


A Changed Destiny

by princess13



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore - Freeform, Death Eaters, F/M, Good Draco Malfoy, Good Lucius Malfoy, Good Malfoy Family (Harry Potter), Good Narcissa Black Malfoy, Harry and Draco are brothers, Harry is a Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy's A+ Parenting, Sirius Black Lives, Tonks and Draco are BFFs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-09-29 14:59:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 35,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17205557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princess13/pseuds/princess13
Summary: The day Draco Malfoy and his father ran into Harry Potter in a muggle bank was the day Harry’s life changed forever. He is adopted by the Malfoys and discovers their secret: they never were true supporters of Lord Voldemort. The Malfoys vow to keep Harry safe from the growing shadowy powers of Lord Voldemort, even if it means losing all the know.As Harry grows up as a Malfoy, it surely will make him some enemies. Harry Potter-Malfoy and his family will have to fight together to survive.





	1. The Meeting

 

 

Chapter 1: The Meeting

Draco Malfoy did not understand why on earth his father was strolling through muggle London. Honestly, this greatly concerned five-year-old Draco. He had been raised to look at muggles with a tentative caution. However, Draco wasn’t sure why. They couldn't perform magic, in fact they didn't even know magic was real.

Muggle London was much louder than Wizard London. There was far too many people around, all wearing weird looking clothes. Some men wore these odd half robes which cut off at their waist and pieces of clothes hung from around their necks. Women wore dresses, similar to the ones Draco’s mother wore, but they lacked a glamorous quality. There were many transportation devices that fascinated Draco. Some were big and others small, but they all had wheels. They were many different shapes, sizes and colors. They made loud shrieking sounds and some made noises like a duck.

“Father,” Draco sputtered, “What are those?” He pointed towards the wheeled thing which came to a halt beside them.

“They are called cars,” Lucius Malfoy said, “Muggles use them to go places.”

“Are they like brooms?”

“In a sense,” Lucius replied, “Except they cannot fly.”

The pair continued down the busy street. Draco remained close to his father, not wishing to lose him in the crowd. The muggles, much like wizards, pressed closely together as they walked. Some were chatting happily, others ignoring everyone and looking face down.

They turned a corner to a much busier street. Lucius reached down and grabbed Draco’s hand. They joined a large group of muggles at the street corner. The cars were still zipping across the road and Draco wondered how people managed to reach the other side without being flattened. An old muggle man smiled at Draco. Draco frowned, moving closer to his father.

He turned to his father, ignoring the muggle man beside him. “Where are we going, father?”

“The bank.” His father replied curtly.

“But Gringotts-” Draco began but was cut off by the sudden movement of the cluster of muggles he stood within. He glanced up and saw a small box which had a little walking man displayed on it. Maybe that was how muggles knew when to cross the street.

“I know that Gringotts is not here, Draco. We are going to a muggle bank.” His father said curtly as they began to cross the street with a large cluster of muggles. Draco clung to his father’s hand, making sure he wouldn't get lost in the gaggle of professionally dressed muggles or the group of them holding boxes which produced bright flashes.

“Why are we going to a muggle bank?” Draco questioned, glancing up at the tall, blonde haired man for answers. Draco was quite confused. Both of his parents seemed to dislike muggles because they couldn’t use magic; or at least they did around his grandparents. Surely, no one in his family associated with muggles. Besides, thought Draco, my family is full of wizards, so why would father be taking me to a muggle bank when the wizard one was Gringotts.

They had reached the other side of the street. Lucius sighed, dropping to his knees so he was eye level with the five-year-old. His expression was a very serious one, filled with a slight look of despair.

“We are going to a muggle bank because we have money there.” Lucius said. Draco opened his mouth in confusion but Lucius continued on before he could speak, “I know that you have been taught by your grandparents and those in the circle to think that muggles are beneath us.”

“They are.” Draco said in confusion. “Grandfather Cygnus said all muggles and mudbloods are,”

Lucius winced internally, silently cursing the horrible man who was his father-in-law. Lucius’s own father, Abraxus, had been the one who had taken the stand with The Dark Lord all those years ago. He had always taught Lucius to hate muggles, insisting that they should be purged. He had also hated muggleborns, insisting that they would cause the downfall of wizards and that the purebloods should reign.

Lucius had believed all of that until he arrived at Hogwarts. For the first two years, he had been cruel and unkind to anyone who was not of pure blood. It wasn’t until his third year that he had been racing brooms with a friend when that changed. It was windy and he had gotten to close to the Whomping Willow. The tree destroyed his broom, breaking several of his ribs in the process. It wasn’t until he was saved by none other than Lily Evans, a muggle born friend of that Severus Snape kid.

To his shock, the red headed second year was nothing but kind to him. They struck up a surprising friendship and Lucius soon learned that muggles and muggleborns were not terrible. He began to become friends with more of the muggle borns and blood traitors, like Sirius Black. Lucius forged friendships with many others muggleborns. He not longer was known as muggle hating and instead found close friends in Black; Evans; Remus Lupin and Andromeda Black, Sirius's cousin. He was able to keep up this charade for nearly three years. Or at least until Andromeda ran away to marry muggleborn, Ted Tonks.

The wedding reception was crashed by none other than Andromeda own parents and middle sister, Bellatrix. It was here that Lucius knew he was done for.  
When his father learned of this “betrayal” in his sixth year, he was furious. He summoned Lucius home and beat him senseless. He insisted that Lucius stop behaving this way or he would not allow Lucius to marry Andromeda’s younger sister, Narcissa, who was clearly being given the same instructions, to cut ties with the blood traitors or else.

As for Lucius, he had never come to love someone as much as the fifth year, blonde bombshell of a woman. Narcissa was smart, funny and incredibly witty. She was someone who Lucius knew he wanted to spend his life with and he couldn’t let that slip away.

So Lucius returned to behaving cold towards everyone, pretending to become friends with who his father wanted. He finished school and moved on to working at the ministry, taking calculated steps to work his way to the top, just like his father would have wanted. He could keep up with appearances, after all.

Lucius and Narcissa married following her graduation, and lived happily for the most part. They secretly remained friends with James and, now, Lily Potter, as well as Narcissa’s cousin, Sirius, and her middle sister. For as long as the general public was concerned, the Malfoys did not associate with anyone outside the Pureblood circle, The Sacred 28.

The war broke out and, unsurprisingly, Lucius true friends sided with Dumbledore and his pureblood “friends” and father sided with The Dark Lord. Lucius managed to stay out of the war for nearly a year before his father and the Dark Lord seemed to catch on. A huge fight erupted between the father and son; Abraxas accusing his own son of spying for the Order of the Phoenix. Lucius insisted this wasn’t true. Finally, Abraxas cursed Lucius with the Imperius curse. Quite honestly, Lucius wasn’t sure why Abraxis didn’t just kill him. However, he later came to learn that the Dark Lord had threatened to kill Lucius’s unborn child and Abraxas wasn’t going to let the pureblood Malfoy line die too easily.

Needless to say, Lucius was forced by his father to due terrible things. He worked his way up the ranks quickly. He became the Dark Lord’s right hand man, rivaled only by his insane sister-in-law, Bellatrix.

Only a few days before the Dark Lord’s death, Abraxas was killed by Lucius once friend, Sirius Black. To be honest, Lucius could not have been happier to be free of the curse. Soon after, Voldemort was gone, vanquished by none other than James and Lily's son. Lucius was cleared of all charged, having been under the imperius curse and was free to live his life again…mostly. There were still many former Death Eaters who would surely harm him or his family should they ever find out that he had been telling the truth about imperious.

“Well, they are not beneath us, Draco. They are just very different from us. There is no reason to hate them. And I never, ever, want to want to hear you say that word. Am I clear?” When Draco nodded solemnly, Lucius continued. “We are going to this bank because we have money there.”

By now, it was starting to become crowded on the streets so Lucius picked up his son and continued to talk as they made their way down the busy street. “Your mother and I thought that it would be a good idea to have money in the muggle world, just in case of something bad happening.”

“What bad stuff might happen?” Draco asked, biting his lip. “Are dragons going to destroy the city? What if the Goblins rise up and eat you and mum? What if-”

“I don’t think your mother and I will be eaten by Goblins, Draco.” Lucius shook his head, marvling at his son’s imagination. “As a Malfoy, you must always be prepared and have assets in the right places. We have an important business meeting,”

“At a muggle bank?”

“At a muggle bank.” Lucius confirmed.

They stopped in front of a tall building with a large cash sign on the spotless glass windows. Lucius pushed open the doors to reveal a high ceilinged room, with many different people sitting behind desks. He let Draco look around as he went to speak to a muggle at a desk. This place reminded Draco of Gringotts, only with muggles instead of Goblins.

Lucius had asked the muggle at the desk for someone and was now sitting on a leather sofa, discussing business with an important looking man in a pinstripe suit. Draco was busy wandering about, touching everything in sight. The reception area was quiet and claustrophobic, with a brown marble floor, three elevators to one side, and above the desk, a row of clocks showing the time in every major world city. He stopped when his eyes fell on a small boy, probably around his age, curled up in a corner. He had dark black hair which fell shaggily around his shoulders, a pair of circular glasses and bright green eyes. His clothes were far too big and he looked as if he was swimming in them. His eyes were very sad and Draco felt bad for him. Before he could even realize, his feet had carried him over to the boy.

“Hello,” Draco said brightly to the boy. He extended his hand, as he had been taught, to him. “I am Draco Malfoy, at your service.”

The boy regarded him funnily, looking very confused by it all. Draco felt a tinge of annoyance, for he had seen his father do this countless times before and people always loved it. The boy did not move. He continued to look from Draco to a nearby door frantically, as if someone would burst from it at any moment.

“How are you?” Draco tried again, hoping for a response.

“I’ve been better,” Said the boy quietly, his eyes still darting to the door. “My uncle doesn’t like it when I talk to strangers.”  
“My mum says that too,” Draco said, “But she’s not here, and neither is your uncle.” He added brightly. The boy offered a small smile but his eyes still flickered to the door.

“What’s your name?” Draco asked him.

“Harry,” Replied the boy, his eyes still darting back and forth.

“I’m here with my father on important business,” Said Draco proudly, “He is very important and always gets his way. Why are you here?”

“My uncle is here.” said Harry, “I don’t know why. He doesn’t talk much to me. He usually only yells at me. He’s very mean.” Harry sounded so unhappy that Draco had to take a moment to pause.

“I’m really sorry that he’s mean.” He said. “Don’t you have an aunt who can stop him?” Draco was confused. Parents should be loving and so should aunts and uncles. His Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted were very kind; however, Draco was forbidden to talk about them in front of his Grandfather Cygnus and Grandmother Druella for whatever reason.

“My Aunt Petunia is also mean. And so is my cousin Dudley. He takes all my things, which isn’t fair.”

“What about your parents?”

“They died. Car crash, I guess.” Harry said, frowning at the loud cars through the glass. “I think they were nice though. I hope so,”

At that moment the door Harry had been looking at swung open to reveal one of the fattest men Draco had ever seen. He had a bulging neck and eyes, both varying shades of red. His hands were balled up into fists, reminding Draco of meatballs.

“Sir?” A muggle man dressed in a suit came rushing out behind the man. The fat man turned to the muggle and snarled. The muggle shrank back without a word. The fat muggle then fixed his eyes on Harry.

“Let’s go boy.” He barked.

Harry sighed. “I’ve got to go.”

“It was nice meeting you,” Draco said as brightly as he could as he watched Harry walk towards the fat man who was snarling, “now boy,”. The fat man grabbed hold of Harry’s arm and yanked on it. Harry cried out.

“What did I say about talking to strangers?” Snarled the fat man, glaring at Draco before dragging Harry away. Draco was left to stand in horror and watch his new friend get dragged away and out into the busy streets.

“Merlin,” Snarled a voice behind Draco. He glanced up, seeing his father frowning at the sighting of the fat man still yanking Harry behind him. “That man should not be a father.”

“It’s not his father,” Draco said, “it’s his uncle.”

“A pity,” Lucius shook his head, extending his hand to Draco so that they could walk back to the streets. “No child should have an uncle like that.”

“Harry said his aunt was mean too. So was his cousin.”

Lucius stopped walking sharply, staring hard at the man and boy still in sight across the street. “Harry, you said his name was?”

“Uh huh.” Draco said, watching his father with a curious expression. Lucius was staring hard at the boy with an odd expression.

“What was his uncle’s name?”

“Never said.” Replied Draco, clutching his tongue. “His aunt’s name was Patricia or something., I think”

“What about Petunia?” Lucius croaked, his face somewhat white.

“Yeah, that sounds right.” Draco said and he felt his father’s hand go slack. “Can we go home now?”

“Not now,” Lucius said urgently, “we’ve got another stop to make.”  
\------------------------------  
“Are you sure that you do not know where Harry Potter is?” Lucius was growling at the cowering, balding wizard behind the desk. He was currently standing in the director of the Department of Magical Adoptions and Families office. The tall blonde man peered down at the wizard, tightening his grip on his cane. For the past hour, Lucius had watched the wizard sort though file after file, searching for Harry Potter’s.

“No, I’ve told you, Mr. Malfoy, I do not know.” Said the Wizard. “I have looked through everything. There is no record of Harry Potter being adopted by his aunt and uncle.”

“So you’re telling me that you have lost Harry Potter? The bloody Boy-Who-Lived? Lost him?” Lucius snapped coldly. “Well, that won’t look very good for this Department, will it? Especially not when I inform the Minister and The Prophet of this unfounding discovery.”

The wizard’s beady eyes widened and he gulped. This expression of fear did not change Lucius’s tone, for he had seen this reaction several times.

“If I were you, I would find Potter’s file. I wouldn’t want the entire magical community to know of how incompetent my department is.” Lucius hissed, his eyes dangerously narrow.

“I...err….of course not. I can ask around. However, it might take a while before-” the wizard began, sweat dripping down his face.

“You have one hour.” Lucius interrupted the nervous wizard. “You have wasted enough of my time. I highly suggest you have the information which I seek when you return.”

“Yes, of course, Mr. Malfoy.” The wizard cried, vanishing from his office in a whirl. The wind from his run sent several pieces of parchment flying behind him in his haste.

Lucius, smirking, settled himself in a chair, absentmindedly flipping through the papers of the Daily Prophet. The clock along the wall ticked quietly and steadily. Lucius glanced up at it from time to time as forty minutes slowly ticked by.

“Dad,” Draco said finally from beside him, perched on the edge of a shabby looking couch. “Why are we still here? What’s taking him so long? What are we looking for?”

Draco, to Lucius surprise and relief, had not fussed once since they had entered the office. He had been very content to sit and play with a toy broom which the wizard had provided. He let his father intimidate the other man, watching the action fold out in front of him. This was fine, of course. Draco would need to learn of the Malfoy’s method of getting what they wanted.

“We are looking for the address of that boy you met in the bank.” Lucius said simply. His son blinked curiously up at him.

“Why?”

“Because I believe I know that boy.” Lucius said simply.

“How?”

“He looks a lot like my old friend.”

“But wouldn’t your friend be old like you then? Not a kid.”

Lucius sighed some at this. “I’m old?” He raised an eyebrow at his son, who giggled some. Sometimes, things Draco said utterly baffled Lucius. “No, I believe he might be his son.”

“Who was your friend?”

Lucius had not expected Draco to ask so many questions. “James Potter.”

Draco opened his mouth to speak again when the door came flying open and the wizard came rushing into the room. He was panting, his face very red. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out; instead, he doubled over, still panting. Annoyed, Lucius folded his arms at the Wizard, looking at him in disgust. Finally, the Wizard held out a piece of parchment.

“He lives there. I don’t know who cares for him.” He gasped. “But it took me ten different people to track this down. I promise it is right!”

Lucius did not frankly care as to where the Wizard had acquired this information. He glanced down at the paper, smiling some at the scrawny writing.

4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging

“Thank you for your assistance,” Lucius said to the still gasping wizard. He learned closed to him, staring right into his beady eyes. “You are not to share the details of this meeting with anyone, am I clear? Or I will go to The Prophet.”

“Yes, sir. Of course, Mr. Malfoy.” Gasped the Wizard. Pleased with himself, Lucius motioned for Draco to follow him. The father and son left the Ministry with a smile on their faces.  
\----------------------------------------  
The manor was oddly quiet when they arrived. Lucius and Draco emerged from the fireplace and stepped into their parlor. It had a large, silvery grey, silky carpet, and the furniture was covered with dark green silky material. Into this reticence pieces of futurism, plush cushions and well painted, bright portraits hung from the walls. There was no sign of Narcissa, the house elves, or even their peacock.

“Your mother must not be back from her shopping in Prague with Aunt Andy yet.” Lucius said to his son. Draco was currently shaking ash from his shoulder back into the fire.

In order to keep up appearances for the possible sake of their lives, the Malfoys made sure to not associate with Andromeda's, Lucius’ sister-in-law, family in public. They always made sure to spend time with each other in the safety of one another’s homes or far away, in cities where no one would recognize them.

“Do you think she bought me presents?” Draco asked, looking up at his father excitedly. Lucius smiled; Narcissa never came back from shopping without gifts for her adoring son.

“I’m sure she did.” He said and Draco grinned. “Now, go upstairs and play. I’ve got lots to work on.”

Draco ran upstairs without another word. Lucius made his way towards his office, dropping into his chair with a loud thud. He ran his hands through his hair with a huge sigh. His mind was racing with questions. Was it really Harry Potter, James and Lily’s son? How could he be living with such awful muggles? If Lucius knew one thing, it was that James and Lily were very adamant about their son not ending up with Lily’s sister if they should die. The way Lily spoke about her sister and her husband gave Lucius the sense that they were magic fearing and would take any force against it. That could not be good for Harry, if he was even living with them.

Lucius felt his blood boil at the thought of the greatest wizard alive being forced to live with his horrible aunt and uncle. He tossed his head back, sighing. Finally, he croaked out, “Dobby.” There was a loud crack and the elf appeared. It looked expectantly up at his master.

“Get me some firewhiskey.” Lucius sighed. Dobby nodded, vanishing with a crack. A moment later, he reappeared holding a glass and a bottle of firewhisky. Lucius took them from the elf, thanking him. Dobby vanished once more as Lucius poured a generous amount of the beverage into the glass and took a long sip. The whisky burned his throat, but he felt a sense of relief.

After a moment, Lucius reached for his wand, tapping it once on the top drawer on his desk. The drawer slide open to reveal many of Lucius private papers. He sifted through them until he found what he was looking for- an old, leather photo book.

He dropped it on the table and a large amount of dust flew out from it. He flipped through the pages, smiling at the old memories of his life before the war. There were wedding photos, holiday photos, birthdays; mostly filled with laughter and happiness. Finally, at the very end, Lucius found what he was looking for.

Two baby boys were laughing at a toy broom. They were sitting beside a Christmas tree, brightly colored presents around them. One was pale and fair haired- Draco. The other had bright green eyes and jet black hair- Harry, James and Lily’s son. This photo was taken on the one time the Malfoys and Potters dared to get together during the intensity of the war. Lucius did not remember it, for he had been out serving the Dark Lord under the curse most likely.

He stared hard at the baby version of Harry Potter, trying to imagine what he would look like four years later. No matter how hard he tried not to, the image of the boy in the bank popped up in his head.

“What are you looking at?” A soft, feminine voice pulled him from his thoughts.  
Lucius glanced up and caught sight of a petite blonde woman with high cheekbones. She was leaning against the door frame, smiling softly at him. She caught sight of the firewhiskey on the desk and frowned, making her way towards him.

“Did the meeting at the bank not go well then, I take it?” She sighed.

“No, the meeting went quite well, actually,” Lucius replied. “Our assets within the muggle world is still very much in tact. In fact, our stocks have even gone up,”

“Well that’s good news, isn’t it?” Narcissa said, pecking him softly on the cheek. She straightened up when she saw what he was looking at. “Lucius, why are you looking at old pictures of James and Lily? You know that upsets me.”

Lucius shook his head, pointing towards the photo of the two baby boys. “I wasn’t looking at James and Lily. I’m looking at the picture of the boys.” He paused for a long time, unsure of how to continue. “Cissa, I think I saw Harry today.”

“Harry? As in James and Lily’s son, Harry? Harry Potter?” Narcissa was looking at him like he had grown another head.

“Yes, dear. Their son. It was Harry, I just know it. He looked just like a mini James, only with Lily’s eyes.”

“Where did you see him?”

“The bank,”

“The bank? As in Gringotts rights?” Narcissa was staring at him so hard Lucius thought she might bore a hole into his head.

“No, dear. The muggle bank.”

“The muggle bank?” Narcissa cried, “What on earth would he be doing there?” She paused for a moment as her face paled. “Oh, Merlin, tell me he hasn’t been with those terrible relatives of Lily’s all this time.”

“It, err, it appears that way, dear.”

“WHAT?” Narcissa screeched so loudly that Lucius wouldn’t have been surprised if his glass shattered. “YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT HARRY- MY GODSON- HAS BEEN WITH THOSE….THOSE...DREADFUL PEOPLE ALL THIS TIME?”

“Narcissa, darling, calm down.” Lucius begged, seeing that his wife’s face had turned an ugly, blotchy color of red. “Wait, Godson? I thought Sirius was the only one who was named a godparent.”

“I was too,” Narcissa replied very quietly, avoiding his eyes. “Lily wrote to me- in code of course- asking if I could be Harry’s Godmother should something happen to them or Sirius. It was right after the prophecy was made, but you were under the imperious so I never said anything to you. I was afraid he would find out.”

“And you didn’t think to mention it after I was free and the Dark Lord was dead.” Lucius raised his eyebrows at his wife.

“I…”Narcissa froze, chewing her lip. She contemplated her next words carefully. “How would it have looked to the still free Death Eaters if we took him in? They would have surely killed us. Besides, I was ordered-” She suddenly stopped talking, leaning against Lucius desk. She poured herself a considerable amount of Firewhiskey.

“Who ordered you? Cissa?” Lucius was very concerned. Narcissa and he held no secret from each other, so he was stunned to learn that she had.

“I don’t know who it was.” Narcissa said, tossing the drink to the back of her throat. She let it burn on the way down her throat. “All they said was not to worry and that Harry was safe with a wizard family out in France. They told me not to tell you that I had been named godmother and insisted that I not look for Harry or they would hurt Draco. They said that Harry would only be in danger if he lived here.”

She took another long sip of the drink straight from the bottle before slamming it down on the desk. Liquid spilled out from the force of her slam, making the room smell even more like alcohol. Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

“They tricked me, didn’t they? And I just let them. I failed Harry as a godmother by letting him stay with those awful muggles. Oh, this is all my fault.” Narcissa hung her head, sniffling, as tears rolled from her cheeks and splashed down onto the floor. She looked up at her husband, eyes full of regret. “Why did I let myself fall into that trap?”

“Narcissa,” Lucius sighed, wrapping his wife up in a hug. “You did not fail Harry. You would have made a wonderful godmother.”

“I was so scared, Lucius. I thought one of the Death Eaters had found us out and was scaring us. At the same time, I thought that Harry was safe...They also threatened Draco. What was I supposed to do?”

“Cissa, baby. Stop crying and look at me.” Lucius said, wiping the tears from her face. “It’s going to be alright. We can go and save Harry right now. He can come and live with us.”

Narcissa head shot up, her eyes hopeful. Moments later, they fell flat again. “What would we tell the others, you know, within the bloody circle?”

“We can tell them that we are simply raising Harry so that we had easily hand him over to the Dark Lord when he returns.” Lucius said. Despite this, Lucius knew there was no way he or Narcissa would willing hand over James and Lily’s son back to that crazed madman if the time ever came.

“You...you don’t really think he’ll come back, do you?” Narcissa whispered softly. The fear in her eyes was evident.

“I don’t know, Cissa.” Lucius said, “But I do know that we will be on the right side if he does, even if it means losing our livelihood and even our wealth to protect that boy. But right now we can save him. Educate him. Love him. Give him a real home and someone to call family. Now, we can figure out the rest of the details later.” He straightened up, smoothing out his jacket. “Go freshen up. We’re going to get him.”

Narcissa smiled, softly kissing her husband before vanishing to go upstairs. Lucius followed her, heading towards Draco’s room instead.

Draco was seated at a small table covered with toy dragons. Peesy, one of their house elves, was playing with him. Narcissa had assigned Peesy to keep Draco company when he felt lonely.

“Draco,” Lucius said, pushing his way into the room. “May I speak with you? Peesy, would you excuse us?”

The house elf vanished with a loud cracking sound. Lucius said in the chair formerly occupied by the small creature and looked his son down very seriously.

“Draco, how would you feel about having a brother?” He asked his son. Draco’s face lit up at once, a smile forming on his cheeks. He had always wanted a sibling, asking every year on Christmas that he got one to play with. It was a very innocent thing to do, but Lucius knew how much it tour up his wife. Draco’s birth had so many complications that it was extremely unlikely for her to ever have another child.

“Is mummy going to have a baby?” He asked excitedly.

“I..err. No, she’s not.” Lucius said quickly. “We are thinking of adopting your mother’s godson-Harry Potter.”

“Harry Potter? As in the Harry Potter?” Draco’s eyes widened. “Really? That would be so wonderful. I would finally have a brother.”

“Yes, you would.” Lucius agreed, ruffling his son’s hair. “Now, why don’t you go with Peasy to turn a guest room into a wonderful room for Harry.”

“Of course, father,” Draco cried, racing away. Laughing some, Lucius summoned the house elves, ordering them to prepare a room and watch Draco. When he returned to the parlor, he found Narcissa fussing over an old letter.

“Is that it?” Lucius asked, approaching his wife. She nodded, handing him the crumpled up piece of parchment.

“The very same that arrived the day after The Dark Lord fell,” She said. Lucius turned down to look at the old piece of parchment. He did not recognize the sloppy handwriting on the page.

Narcissa,  
I see that despite your valiant attempts to hide your friendship with the Potters, you have failed. I know you have agreed to be the Godmother of Harry James Potter. This news did not surprise me, for I always had my suspensions about your loyalty to the Dark Lord and his followers.  
I would like to tell you that Harry Potter is safe. There is no need for you to worry.  
Do not attempt to look for Harry. There will be no need for you in the raising of the boy. You will only be putting the boy in danger. The Death Eaters, including your own husband, will no doubt want revenge on the boy for vanquishing The Dark Lord and will have no problem killing you and your entire family to do it.  
Do not take my message lightly, girl. If you love your cute little blonde baby -Draco, I believe his name is- you will forget about your duty to Harry Potter. It would be a pity for me to share this information with the Death Eaters, including your sister. I have a strong feeling she would find this very interesting.  
Now, for your sake, move on with your life and forget about Harry Potter.  
Sincerely,  
An old friend

Lucius read the letter, feeling quite angry about it. How dare this person threaten Draco’s life? How dare they make sure claims? Lucius felt his anger with the writer shimmer. He glanced up at his wife and nodded. They did not need to share words; he silently told her that he understood why she had done what she did.

“Are you ready, darling?” He asked softly, handing the letter back to her. She carefully folded it back and dropped it into her robes.

“One can only hope.” She said softly.

They apparated just outside Little Whinging in Surrey. As they approached, they found rows of suburban looking houses, each with pristine lawns. There was shouting and the sounds of music in the distance. They walked down the street, catching sight of muggles tilting their heads at them. They were obviously judging them, confused by their robes and probably due to the fact that they looked very “un-normal” in the (perfectly normal, thank you) town.

Number Four Privet Drive was a small home with a bright green lawn in the front. All of the curtains were drawn, making it seem as if they were not friendly. Lucius and Narcissa made their way to the front doors and knocked soundly on the door.

The door swung open to reveal a horse faced woman named Petunia Dursley. Her eyes widened at the sight of them. She clutched her heart.

“Good day, Mrs. Dursley. We wish to have a word with you.”


	2. I'm a What?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I completely made up the Ministry department they visit, but it seemed like it would fit into the Wizarding World.

Chapter 2: I’m a what? 

Harry was leaning against the uncomfortable walls of the tiny cupboard under the stairs. It was a tiny, cramped space, and full of dust. There was a few spiders here and there but Harry didn’t mind; they were some of the only companions Harry had. It wasn’t like Dudley or Mrs. Figg were much company. 

There was a loud banging noise on the door. There was a loud grumble from Harry’s uncle from somewhere in the kitchen. He heard Aunt Petunia grumble from the living room. Harry grinned; the Duresly’s hated their neighbors and the banging on the door usually meant that they would have to interact with them. 

“It’s a damn Saturday. Doesn’t anyone have any respect?” Vernon grumbled. Harry heard the sounds of Petunia’s heels clicking across the kitchen floor. After a few moments, he listened to the sounds of her walking down the hall towards the front door. Harry heard the sounds of her opening the doors but he most certainly did not expect the words which he next heard. 

“You!” She shrieked, “You’re some of those….those freaks. What do you people want? You know what, go away! Leave us alone. We have nothing to say to you.” 

“Mrs. Dursley, may we please come in,” said a deep, masculine voice. “We have some important details to discuss regarding your nephew.” 

Me?, Harry thought wildly. What are they talking about me? 

“We don’t have a nephew. He died along with his parents,” snapped Harry’s aunt. Her tone was short and very clipped. Harry felt a twinge of annoyance. He was most certainly not dead. He had half a mind to burst out into the hall and wave frantically at whoever was at the door. 

“Petunia, I think we both know that your nephew is not dead. I also believe that we are both aware that he is somewhere within this house.” This time a woman’s voice spoke. She sounded very displeased with his aunt. 

“Now, are you going to let us in or do you want to risk your neighbors seeing us on your doorstep?” said the man’s voice. 

There was the sound of people entering into the hallway. By the sounds of it, Petunia slammed the door as fast as she could. Harry heard his uncle grumbling from the kitchen. There was the sounds of a chair scraping backwards as he stood up. Harry heard him trudge towards the hall, shouting “Who is it, Petunia?”  
“Good afternoon, Mr. Dursley.” said the man’s voice. “My name is Lucius Malfoy and this is my wife, Narcissa. We have some questions regarding your nephew.” 

“We don’t have a nephew.” Vernon said gruffly.

“Mr. Dursley, Harry is my godson.” said the unfamiliar woman’s voice. “That means that I have the guardian rights to Harry.”

“Oh, you do?” Petunia’s voice sounded excited. 

“Why the hell is the first we’re learning of a Godmother? All we know is that his godfather is in jail? What the hell took you so long to show up?” Vernon’s voice barked.

“We were unaware that Harry was here. I had been misinformed of his whereabouts.” said the woman’s voice. There was a shimmer of underlying rage in it. Harry pressed his ear to the door, desperate to hear more. 

“Are you here to take him with you?” Veron asked, “So that he would live with you? And we’d never see him again?”

“Well, we could always set up playdates between Harry and his cousin if you would like,” Said the man’s voice. “However, Narcissa and I have a son Harry’s ago, Draco. Harry will not be lonely if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Draco, like as in the boy from the bank?, thought Harry. He strained to hear more in the hall. 

“Oh no, you take that freaky boy far, far away from our Dudders.” Petunia said, “There is no need to set up playdates.” 

“What did you call Harry?” The woman, Narcissa, asked icily. 

“I...I...oh, you’re all freaks. All you...freaks…” Petunia cried. “And besides, you were obviously good friends with my freak sister and her loser husband” 

“I’m sorry?” snapped the man’s voice. Harry leaned into the door more, desperate to hear more of the fight. It had become quite apparent that these people were not neighbors. He was very confused as to why his aunt was calling these people freaks, much like she called him. 

Suddenly, the latch on the cupboard snapped open. The door swung open, crashing into the wall with a loud bang. Harry went tumbling down onto the floor with a loud grunt. His aunt, uncle and the two strangers turned to look at him. Harry, his cheeks flaming, turned to face them.

The two strangers standing there were both blonde. The man had a long face with a sharply defined nose. His eyes were a grey, much like his silky looking cloak. He was very tall, towering over his uncle. His long blonde hair was tightly pulled back in a ponytail. The woman was slim and petite. Her eyes were bright blue and her cheekbones were very defined. The two strangers were highly attractive, arguably some of the most attractive people Harry had ever seen. They were staring at Harry with expressions of concern.

The woman pushed past Harry’s aunt and uncle and approached him. Harry scrambled to stand, not wanting to look like a fool in front of her. There was something about this woman that made Harry not want to disappoint her. 

She knelt down in front of him, extending her hand to him. “Hello, Harry. My name is Narcissa Malfoy and I am -was- a good friend of your parents. I am also your Godmother. Do you know what a Godmother is?”

Harry blinked at her, confused. He most certainly did not know what a Godmother was. However, this woman was his parents’ friend. This surely meant that she was an important person. 

“A Godmother means that it is my job to care for you if something ever happened to your parents.” Narcissa explained. “I would have come sooner, Harry, but I didn’t know you were here. For that, I am sorry from the bottom of my heart.” 

“It’s okay. We all make mistakes,” Harry said to her, for she looked as if she would cry. “Why didn’t you know I was here? Did Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia not tell you about me?” 

“No,” said Narcissa coolly, “They did not.”

“You know damn well that it was not our job to tell the boy about his freak of parents and their friends. Besides, we didn’t know you existed until today.” Vernon growled, pointing his fat finger at the two strangers. 

“Harry, my husband and I came here today to offer you a chance to come live with us. You will be able to learn about the world you really belong in.” Said Narcissa, ignoring Harry’s uncle’s words. 

“What do you mean?” Harry asked, confused. 

The two Malfoys exchanged a look. At the same time, so did the Dursleys. While the Malfoys’ exchange was one of concern, the Dursleys looked fearful. 

“You are a wizard, Harry.” Said Lucius slowly. “So were your parents and so are Narcissa and I.” 

“A wizard? Like with magic?” Harry asked, thinking of the books Mrs. Figg had given him. The two strangers sure looked like wizards with their robes, Harry supposed. 

Both Petunia and Vernon both flinched at the words “wizard” and “magic”. Petunia had turned a pale shade of white while Veron’s face turned red. There was a wild expression in Veron’s eyes, one Harry had never seen. He looked frightened, yet angry. Petunia’s lower lip quivered some. 

“There is no such thing as MAGIC!” Roared Vernon, banging his fist on the nearby hallway table. “You FREAKS will not teach him those filthy lies. Do not listen to these people boy! They are nothing but sick people.” Vernon shouted, moving towards Narcissa. She instantly straightened up, her hand moving towards her pocket. 

“Make another step towards my wife and you will regret it,” Lucius’s voice was soft, yet filled with a clear implication of what would happen should Vernon not heed his warning. Vernon, for his part, did freeze, his glare focused on the blonde man now.

You will have a warm place to sleep, clean clothes, and plenty of food. You will be offered all of the love we can give to you.” Narcisa said softly, turning back to Harry and reaching out to grab his hand. 

“You mean, like come live with you? Forever?” Harry asked, confused. Leave his aunt and uncle? Was this real life?

“Yes, you would come and live with us at our home in Wilchester. There is plenty of green space for you to run and grow. Narcissa and I’s son, Draco, will be a wonderful companion, I am sure.” Lucius spoke up. “We have a vast library for you to read. We have a-”

“Thank you, dear.” Narcisa said quickly. Her eyes were flickering between Harry’s face and those of his aunt and uncle’s. “Harry,” her attention focused on only Harry now, “You do not have to come and live with us. We are only offering. We would understand if you did not wish to leave your...” she seemed struggle to find the right words, “Petunia and Vernon.”

“If I left, I would never have to come back?” Harry asked, looking at her hopefully. “I wouldn’t have to clean the kitchen, mop the floors-?”

“How many acres do you have?” Vernon cut in sharply. Both newcomers looked at the man in confusion. 

“I beg your pardon?” Lucius said coldly to the fat man. Vernon’s eyes were gleaming. He reached out to touch the fine silk robe Lucius wore.

“Italian silk, is it?” Vernon asked again. “What is it that you do, Mr. Malfoy?”

“It doesn't matter what I do for a living. And you will not receive a single knut of-”

“A what?” Petunia asked. Harry was just as confused. 

“It’s a coin,” Lucius said, sounding frustrated. “And one that you will not see any of, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. Now, I believe Harry asked my wife a question.” 

Harry, who had forgotten what he had asked, blinked in confusion. Moments later, his thoughts returned to him. “So, I wouldn’t have to clean up Dudley’s messes?”

“No, of course not.” 

“Would I have my own room? I wouldn’t have to sleep under the stairs?” Harry blinked at Narcissa. Oh, how he longed for a bed. Once, he dared to try and sleep on the couch. Unfortunately, Uncle Vernon had come downstairs to get some milk and saw him. That resulted in a week’s worth of extra work. 

“Under the stairs? What do you mean?” There was a tone of concern in Narcissa’s voice that Harry had never heard someone use in regards to him. 

Harry pushed past her and gestured to the somewhat open cupboard under the stairs. He pulled back the door to reveal the cramped space, filled with dust and spider webs. “I sleep here.” He explained.

“You sleep there?” Lucius’s voice was filled with shock. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Harry.” Petunia cried. This struck Harry as odd, for she never called him by name. “You have a perfectly good bedroom upstairs.” Her eyes flashed dangerously at him. “Such an imagination, that one.” She said to the strangers. 

“I don’t have a bedroom, I sleep here.” Harry insisted, shaking his head. What was his aunt talking about? 

“Stop lying boy.” Vernon barked, moving towards the boy. Harry almost knew what was coming, pulling his arms to cover his face. The blow never came. Narcissa was standing between them, glaring up at the fat man. She was holding a smooth looking rod in her hand, pointing it between Vernon’s eyes. Vernon looked fearful. Petunia screamed. 

“How dare you let him sleep there like a common animal? What kind of horrible people are you? This is your nephew! And you treat him with as much liking as dirt.” Narcissa’s voice was shrill. There was shimmering fury in her voice and the rod in her hand emitted sparks. 

She slowly lowered the rod in her hand. She was still breathing hard, glaring at the two other adults. Lucius bent down to Harry this time. “Harry,” he said softly, “would you like to come live with us? You would never have to come back here again.” 

For Harry, it wasn’t a hard choice. These people offered him a real family, something he longed for desperately. He would have a brother, a nice home. Harry could picture it perfectly. “Yes,” he said.

Lucius’s face broke into a wide smile. “Okay, then.” He said softly. “Go and gather your things.” 

Harry retreated to the cupboard. He didn’t have much that he wanted to bring. He gathered his stuffed snowy owl, the only books he owned, and his ratty pillow. He returned to the hallway, grinning because he knew he never had to sleep there again. 

“I’m ready.” He announced. The four adults, who appeared to be a debate, all turned to face him. 

“Wonderful,” Said Narcissa. “Why don’t you say goodbye to your aunt and uncle and we’ll be off.” 

“Err-Bye, I guess.” Harry looked at the fat man and thin woman. He heard his cousin shuffling around in the kitchen, attempting to get a better look at what was happening in the hall. “Bye, Dudley.” He called.

“You’re leaving? Like forever?” The fat boy poked his head out from the kitchen doorway. A huge grin was on his face. “Awesome.” With that, he vanished back into the kitchen. Harry’s aunt and uncle both nodded at the young boy. Harry reached up to take Narcissa’s hand and walked from the house alongside her, never wishing to return. 

Harry followed the two Malfoys outside. The street seemed quite like usual. Harry looked about for a car, wondering how the two wizards had arrived. He continued to follow the pair down the street, holding tightly to Narcissa’s hand. 

“Er, excuse me?” He said to her. She glanced down at him offering him a smile. “How did you get here? I don’t see a car?”

“Ah, well, that’s because we do not own one. Wizards to not use cars for travel. Lucius and I arrived by apparition, which is when wizards and witches can magically transport themselves to and from by use of their mind.” 

“Really?” Harry was in awe. “Will you show me how to do it?” 

Lucius chuckled at this, dropping back to join his wife and their new ward. “You will learn how to apparate in your sixth year at Hogwarts, which is the Wizarding School you will attend when you are older. However, we will be taking you in Side-Along-apparition, so you will be able to see what it feels like.” 

“Is that the only way wizards travel?” Harry asked, feeling very curious about this new world he belonged to.

“Wizards often use the floo network, which is travel by magical fireplaces.” Narcissa explained. “Or portkey, which is like apparition, only you use objects to transport you places.” 

“Oh,” said Harry, like he understood. He regarded his godmother carefully. “You are a witch, right?”

“Yes, dear.” 

“Does that mean you ride a broom? Witches always ride brooms in the cartoons that Dudley watches.” 

Narcissa laughed at this. Harry was used to being laughed at, whether is was by his aunt and uncle, or Dudley and his friends. However, this one was different. She wasn’t laughing cruelly, she simply seemed amused by him. This was something Harry had never had happen to him. 

“A broom is not my favorite form of transportation. However, witches and wizards both use them.” Narcissa said. 

“We have an entire sport based upon brooms. It is called Quidditch. I have a strong feeling that you will love it.” Lucius said, smiling brightly. “I am sure that Draco would be happy to talk for hours about Quidditch with you. So would I, for that matter.”

They had arrived at the end of the street. A small park sat there, vacant of children and their parents. The swings blew noisy in the breeze. Both Narcissa and Lucius glanced around before Narcissa bent down to Harry’s eye level.

“Harry, we are going to apparate here back to our home. Now, I want you to grab tightly to my arm and not let go, okay. Fair warning, it is not the most pleasant feeling.” She said, offering her forearm to him. 

Harry grabbed it, confused. Narcissa smiled, standing again. “We ought to apparate to the front gate. That way Harry can get a full tour.” 

“A good idea, dear.” Said Lucius. He winked at Harry. “See you in a minute.” Suddenly, there was a loud crack and Harry saw what looked like Lucius being sucked into a small hole before vanishing. Harry yelped, stumbling back. 

“Where did he go?” He cried at Narcissa. 

“He went back to our home.” Narcissa said. “Now, hold on tight.” 

Suddenly, Harry felt as if he was ripped off of the ground. Everything around him was a swirl of bright colors, but they vanished as fast as they appeared. He felt like everything was pressing him in all directions. He felt like he could not breathe.

Suddenly, his feet hit the ground and he went stumbling forward. He landed on soft grass and the world was far to bright. His stomach churned from the constant tumbling and he vomited on the grass. 

“So, how was your first time apperating?” Asked Lucius’s voice from somewhere above and behind him. Harry staggered to his feet, still somewhat unsteady. 

“That was terrible.” He groaned. “Do you travel like that all the time? I really hope not.” His stomach was still queasy, as he slowly turned to face the two adults. 

“No, we tend to use the floo network for work and daily travel. We use portkey for long distances.” Said Lucius. 

“Are they like that?” Harry mumbled. Now, his stomach had settled itself.

“It depends on who you ask.” Lucius replied. Harry was about to retort when Narcissa softly tapped him on the shoulder. He glanced up at her as she guested to the land around him. “Well, Harry, welcome to your new home.” 

Harry looked out, seeing that they were standing on a gravel pathway. The pathway was wide and had many large, well manicured hedge curving alongside it. The driveway and hedge ran up to a huge gates. Behind the gate sat a massive manor house surrounded by elaborate gardens, including several fountains. The manor had huge windows and seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. 

“This is where you live?” Harry cried, feeling shocked that a manor like this was his new home. He had only seen homes like this in the books he read. It almost didn’t feel real. Oh, how his life had changed.

Harry followed the two Malfoys down the pathway, ogling at the sight. The grounds were huge and so beautifully manicured it would make Uncle Vernon shed tears. There was a soft sound of leaves rustling in the wind and the gentle trickle of water from the fountains. It was incredibly tranquil. 

Squack!  
“What the-” Harry cried as a huge white bird came running around the corner. It took him a moment to realize it was a peacock, and an angry one too. He dove behind Lucius’s legs, not wishing to die by peacock. 

“No, bad!” Lucius barked at the bird. “Bad Baxter! This is our new friend. You are going to be nice to him!” 

The bird, its feathers fully extended now, froze. Harry poked his head from around Lucius’s legs. The bird’s beady eyes bore into his soul. After a moment, the bird twitched and bent his head as if it was bowing. Then it went streaking off towards the nearest fountain. It stopped briefly to clack its beak at Narcissa before continuing on. 

“It’s okay Harry.” Said Lucius, “Baxter won’t hurt you. He is simply a guardian of our gardens. He likes to keep everything orderly. He did not know you, but he does now. He will be something I am sure you will come to like.” 

“Or Harry doesn't have to like Baxter, dear. Some people just don’t care for peacocks.” Narcissa said to her husband. Harry got the impression she was not a fan of the white bird. 

They had reached a huge door. It was covered in ornate golden lining and was quite beautiful. Lucius tapped it with his wand and it swung open. 

Harry followed him inside and gasped. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside. The dark wooden floor of the entrance glowed, obviously having been cleaned before he came. Stairs lay across the room, climbing toward the ceiling. A doorway was on either side of the room, one admitting into the kitchen, the other into the living room. The walls were a dark blue with silver brush swipes crossing over it, creating a shimmer effect.

“Draco,” Narcissa’s voice pulled Harry from his amazement. “Come here please.” 

Pounding came from upstairs and a little boy ran down the silver, winding staircase. "Harry? Hello again. Are you my brother now?" He asked, his blue eyes peeking up at her from beneath a mop of blonde hair setting on his head.

“Nearly, dear. We have to formally sign the papers later.” Narcissa said to the blonde boy. She knelt down between them. “Harry, this is our son, Draco. I believe the two of you have met.” 

“We have, mum. We met at the muggle bank.” Draco said, grinning at the dark haired boy. 

“Seeing that Harry is going to be living here now, why don’t we all give him a tour.” Lucius said, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I am sure you can show him all of the good hiding spots.” Draco grinned and grabbed Harry’s hand, pulling him along.  
Harry soon became acquainted with the massive first floor. He saw the dining room and kitchens, the ballroom, the drawing room, Lucius and Narcissa's studies, and the library filled with rare volumes. Each room was just as breathtaking as the next. 

Harry had cried when he had seen his own room. Draco had designed it apparently. The walls were a deep red with gold stars that sparkled in the light. There was a pile of toys sitting in a chair in one corner. Along the far wall of the room, there was a grand bed. Harry was so overwhelmed with emotions that he ran and leapt upon. He nearly cried when he felt how soft it was. This was his new home and he was going to love every second of his new life, he was certain.  
\-----------------  
Harry slowly opened his eyes the next morning. He was fearful, worried that he would wake back up under the stairs and everything would have been a dream. To his utmost relief, he found himself lying on a huge bed with silk sheets. He let out a breathe he didn’t realize he had been holding. 

“Good morning,” Said a high pitched voice. Harry rolled over, coming face to face with two large eyes. He yelped, stumbling back in the bed. After a moment, he realized it as one of the bat like creatures that he had met in the kitchen yesterday. 

“Err- Hi,” He greeted it, putting on his glasses. The elf slid into focus and Harry recognized it as the female one, Peesy. The elf was blinking up at him. 

“Mistress wanted me to make sure you were awake.” Said Peesy. 

“Who?” Harry asked, still clutching the blankets on his bed. He had been assured that the elves would not harm him; they were there to help. They still freaked him out some despite Draco insisting that he’d get used to them. 

“Mistress,” Replied the elf, bobbing her head up and down. Its green bow flopped with each movement of its head. 

“Yes, who is that?” Harry asked, confused. He had not been introduced to anyone named Mistress yesterday. 

There was a knock on the door. After a moment, Narcissa stuck her head in. Harry was taken back for a moment. The blonde woman seemed to look even more beautiful than she had yesterday. Her hair was curled and fell past her shoulders in waves. She wore a knee length green dress and black robes over top that could have made Harry’s aunt swoon. 

“Young Master is awake, Mistress,” Said Peesy. Harry then understood who the elf had been referring to. “I am sorry I did not inform you in time. Peesy will-”

“There is no need for you to punish yourself, Peesy.” Narcissa said, closing the door behind her. “I would like it if you would return to assist Dobby with breakfast.” 

Peesy bowed to both Narcissa and Harry before vanishing with a loud crack. Harry jumped some at this. 

“Harry,” Narcissa said, now that she was alone with him. “We are going to the Ministry of Magic, the wizard government, today. We are going to sign your adoption papers and do a blood adoption. This means that you will not only be legally Lucius’s and I’s son, but by blood too.”

Harry did not see a problem with this. “Does that mean I will still become Draco’s brother?” He asked. 

“Of course,” Narcissa smiled softly. She turned to produce a pair of pants and a neatly folded shirt. She also held a pair of shoes and socks. “Now, why don’t you put these on? Today is a big day after all.”

Harry retreated to the bathroom where he put on the clothes. They were slightly too big for him and the shoes were far too tight. He stumbled out of the bathroom, feeling rather silly. “They, err, don’t fit right.” 

Narcissa turned from where she was looking out the window. “That’s not a problem.” She said, gently tapping the clothes with her wand. Harry felt the clothes shift and the shoes became suddenly comfortable. “I’m sorry about that, Harry. Those are Draco’s; I was hoping they would fit. Nevertheless, we can stop at Madame Malkin’s later today and get you plenty of clothes. Now,” She tapped his head with her wand and Harry felt his hair tidy itself, “Why don’t you join us for breakfast.” 

Harry followed her downstairs and into a room he had been shown last night. Draco was sitting at the table with Lucius at the head. Both were wearing fine robes like Narcissa and Harry were. There was many plates filled with breakfast food sitting on it. Both Lucius and Draco looked up as the other two appeared. 

“Good morning, Harry? How did you sleep?” Lucius asked, setting aside a newspaper. Harry caught sight of the pictures on the front page move and had to blink a few times before remembering that he had seen all of the other pictures within the manor move as well. That was something that he was going to have to get used to. 

“Hi Harry!” Draco called. 

“I slept well, sir.” Harry said, taking the seat beside from Draco. 

“I am glad,” Said the blonde man. He gestured to the large meal in front of them. “Please, do eat. It seems that the kitchen elves have outdone themselves for your first meal here.” 

Harry did not waste time gather a large amount of eggs and bacon on his plate. He found that the food at the manor was delicious and began to consume as much as he could. Draco sat across from him, pushing his eggs back and forth. The two adults watched them with amusement. 

Harry felt something swoop over his head. He glanced up in time to see an large tawny colored owl soar around the room before landing in front of Narcissa. It stuck out its leg, where Harry noticed a scroll was tied. Narcissa smiled at it, gently patting it on the head.

“That’s Frodo,” Draco told Harry, nodding at the owl. “He’s mum’s owl. Dad has a barn owl named Newt.” 

So, this family has two owls and a peacock? What is their obsession with birds, Harry wondered. 

“Wizards and Witches use owls as a form of communication.” Lucius explained, seeing Harry’s confused face. “We write letters and then our owls take them to the person we are writing to and they bring back a reply.”

“Oh,” Harry said, watching as Frodo began to eat the bacon Draco fed him. 

“Draco, don’t feed him that much bacon, otherwise he is going to get fat like the peacock.” Narcissa said, unrolling the scroll. 

“Baxter is not fat, Narcissa. He simply enjoys eating and might be a little rounded.” Lucius said. Draco rolled his eyes at this. 

“Can you not argue about Baxter at Harry’s first breakfast? Besides, you know he will come running to the widow if he hears his name.” He said, his eyes flickering to the window to his left. “The last thing we need is another morning like last week.” 

“Yes, thank you, Draco.” Lucius said, returning to the paper. Both Narcissa and Lucius seemed embarrassed to have been ousted by their own son. 

“What happened last week?” Harry asked Draco quietly, feeling interested. 

“Dad let Baxter into the house because it was raining and it chased mum around for hours.” Draco said with a giggle. He lowered his voice even more. “Baxter loathes mum for some reason.” 

“Our appointment is at eleven,” Narcissa said to her husband, setting the scroll down. “We should need to leave soon.” 

“Of course, darling. Boys, eat fast.” Lucius said, pushing his plate away. Harry quickly finished eating before following the family into the parlor. There Lucius was standing at the fireplace, holding out a elegant vase filled with what Harry thought looked like ashes. 

“This is floo powder.” Lucius explained. “It always use to travel by fireplace. Now, Draco, you can go with your mother. I can take Harry with me.” 

“I can go by myself.” Draco insisted, shaking his head. “I can do it.” 

“You are going with your mother, Draco.” Lucius said. “We are going to the Ministry. We can’t risk you falling out into a random fireplace.” 

Draco huffed and took his mother’s hand. Lucius tossed some of the powder into the fire and it roared green. Harry stepped back, shocked. 

“Ready, Harry?” Lucius asked, taking Harry’s hand and stepping into the fire. Harry followed him slowly, expecting to feel his feet catch fire. Instead, he felt a soft tingling. He felt Lucius tighten his grip on his as he said, “Ministry of Magic.” 

Suddenly, Harry was spinning very fast. His cloak whipping around him as he spun. He thought he caught sight of various living rooms, though the vanished to quickly before he could really tell. His feet hit solid ground and Lucius gently tugged him from the green flames behind him. 

Harry stood in a large hall with fireplaces up and down both long walls. Many of them roared to life as witches and wizards stepped from the green flames. Harry titled his head, studying the room. 

The floor was polished dark wood. The ceiling was a peacock blue with many golden symbols moving across it. A massive statue stood in an atrium. It consisted of group of golden statues, depicting a wizard, a witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf, spouting water into the surrounding pool of water. Harry peered towards the end of the Atrium, seeing a set of golden gates, next to which is a security stand. 

“Woah,” He said, turning his head to look all around. “This is incredible.” 

“Yes, it is rather impressive.” Lucius said. Behind them, Narcissa and Draco climbed from the nearest fireplace. Draco was busy wiping soot from his cloak. Neither of them seemed overly impressed by the room. 

“Stay close,” Lucius said, grabbing Harry’s hand. The began to walk across the room towards another smaller hall beyond the gates. There were a series of lifts there. 

“Good morning, Mister Malfoy.” Said a man dressed in a deep red uniform. He gave a small bow to him. 

“Morning, Stan.” Lucius said, stepping into the elevator. Harry and others followed him. Stan turned to the family expectantly. 

“Which floor, sir?” He said to Luicis. “It seems to me that you are not going into work today,”

“You would be correct,” lucius said, “forth floor.” 

Stan turned and pressed the button for the forth floor. Several small paper airplanes rushed in before the golden gates closed. Draco swatted at the one near his shoulder and Harry grinned. 

“What are these stupid things?” Draco asked as one poked him on the arm. 

“Interdepartmental memos.” Lucius replied. 

“What?” Both Harry and Draco asked, having no idea what he had just said.

“They carry messages that everyone should know about.” Stan said. Both boy’s “ohh”ed. Draco stanched one from the air and unfolded it.

“This one just says ‘fudge looks like an old toad,’. I don’t get it.” 

Behind him, Harry heard Narcissa cough rather awkwardly. Lucius looked annoyed and Stan laughed. 

“I thought they caught whoever was doing that,” Stan said. 

“We did,” Lucius said, irritated, “I had to dispatch an auror to find the person too. They obviously did not learn their lesson.” He turned to his wife, “After the meeting, we may need to stop by my office.” 

“Of course,” Narcissa said. “You should get right to work on finding whatever horrible person has said such terrible things.” Her voice held a tinge of amusement in it. 

The lift stopped and the gate rolled open. Harry followed Lucius out into a long hallway with many doors. He trotted to keep up, following Lucius and glancing around. Most of the doors were closed; one emitted a horrible screaming sound. It was labeled as Department of Spirits.

They arrived outside the door of the Department of Magical Adoptions and Families. Lucius pushed his way inside. Harry followed him into a stuffy looking cubical. Only two young witches sat at desks, busy writing away while an owl flew overhead.  
Lucius cleared his throat and they both looked up. Their eyes widened at the sight of the family as they both scrambled to the feet. 

“Lord Malfoy,” The brunette witch said who reached them first, her eyes slightly glassy. “What assistance can I provide for an esteemed man such as yourself?” 

“I have an appointment to speak to your superior.” Lucius said. If he noticed the way the two witches were fawning over him, he gave no indication of it. Draco seemed to be hiding a horrified look. 

“Of course,” said the other witch, this one a redhead. “Tragically, Mr. Tobin is running late. You are more than welcome to wait for him until he arrives,” She sighed dramatically and gestured towards a patchy couch in the corner. “I am so incredibly sorry that we do not have anything that is worthy of you sitting on, however, sir.” She batted her eyelashes at Lucius. 

“Would you like anything while you wait?” Asked the brunette. 

“I am fine, thank you. Would you like anything, my darling? Boys?” Lucius turned to them. Harry caught his eye and Lucius smirked some, clearly amused. The two witches both just then seemed to notice that Lucius also had his wife, son and Harry standing just behind him. 

“I would like some pumpkin juice,” Draco said, tilting his head at the redheaded witch as if he was silently daring her. 

“Of course,” She said, her eyes snapping to the blonde boy. “Anything for a young Lord Malfoy.” She turned and hurried to leave the room. 

Harry watched her go, feeling slightly amused. He turned back, catching sight of the brunette witch looking at Narcissa with utter jealousy. Lucius gently guided him over the the couch. Harry sat, finding it quite uncomfortable. 

The redheaded witch returned, carrying a flask of an organ liquid. She made a huge show out of presenting it to Draco. Draco seemed rather pleased with himself as she left.

“Can I ask you a question?” Harry asked, glancing up at the two adults. 

“Of course,” Lucius said. Narcissa smiled encouragingly. 

“Are you famous? Everyone seemed to know who you are.” 

Lucius chuckled. “I suppose you could say that. I come from a long line of very powerful wizards. I also hold a great position of power here within the Ministry.” 

“They just like us because we’re rich and powerful.” Draco said, sipping his pumpkin juice. “Witches act like that all the time when he’s around.” 

“Do they now?” Narcissa sounded amused. Lucius chuckled, sharing a grin with his wife. 

“I would prepare for it now, son.” Lucius said. “Soon, every witch is going to act like that around you too.” 

“Mum doesn't act like that.” Draco said, “Thank Merlin.” 

At that moment, the door opened and an older wizard with wild grey hair came bursting in. He caught sight of the family and rushed to greet them. “Lord Malfoy, Lady Malfoy. My deepest apologies. My cat almost got eaten this morning by a wild hippogriff.”

“Yes, I can see that.” Lucius said, glancing down at the man’s disheveled appearance. “Now, may we move to your office?” The witches were peering at them over their papers. 

They moved into the stuffy office which Lucius and Draco had visited the day before. Lucius and Narcissa settled into the chairs in front of the man’s cluttered desk. Harry and Draco hovered behind them, unsure what to do. Tobin stared at Harry from the moment they entered the room, looking as if he could hardly believe his eyes. 

“I assume the letter from the Goblin Nation assuring you that I am Harry’s Godmother as appears on the Potter's will has arrived.” Narcissa said once Mr. Tobin had sat behind his desk. 

“Of course, Lady Malfoy.” Said Tobin, “It is right here. It was confirmed. Now, seeing that Mr. and Mrs. Potter are deceased and Mr. Black is unable to care for Mr. Potter, I am assuming you are here to claim guardianship rights?” 

“That would be correct,” Narcissa said, her voice very clear. “My husband and I would like to blood adopt Harry.” 

Tobin’s head snapped up, his eyes wide. He had already seemed quite worried and jumpy around the family to begin with; now he seemed to shake. 

“Blood adopt, Lady Malfoy?” He shuddered. 

“I did not think I stuttered,” Narcissa said. While her tone was friendly enough, Harry could quickly see that both she and Lucius were greatly intimidating to Tobin. Harry was confused but this but decided that it was simply due to The Malfoy’s place in high society. 

“And how do you feel about this, Mr. Potter?” Tobin asked, his eyes flickering to the scar on Harry’s forehead. He then turned to glance at the three Malfoys as if they would attack him at any moment. 

“Well, Nar- Lady Malfoy is my Godmother.” Harry said, feeling a surge of protectiveness towards the three of them. He did not like the way Tobin was now looking at them in silent disdain. “She and her family have been nothing but kind to me. I want to be able to stay with them.”

“Mr. Potter, you only came to meet the Malfoys yesterday, is that correct?” Tobin asked, his hand coming to rest of his wand. Harry saw Lucius’s fingers tighten on his walking cane. 

“Yes, they rescued me from my Aunt and Uncle.” Harry replied. 

“Rescued?” Tobin said, “What do you mean?”

“My Aunt and Uncle were a nightmare,” Harry said, trying to match his tone with Lucius and Narcissa’s. “They kept me hidden because I am a wizard.” 

“Your Aunt and Uncle were muggles, then?” Tobin asked. 

“Err- they didn’t use magic.” Harry said, wondering what a muggle was. 

“They were,” Lucius said, his voice sounding bored. “Now, I’m sure you can understand what we simply cannot allow Harry Potter to grow up in the muggle world when he belongs here in ours.” 

“Of course, Mr. Malfoy.” Tobin said, agreeing with Lucius. “And why, may I ask, did you wait so long attempt to find Harry?”

“We were unaware of Harry’s location.” Narcissa said, her eyes flashing dangerously. “Harry was well hidden for a few years for obvious reasons, Mr. Tobin. Lucius and I are grateful to have located Harry with your help, however. “ 

“If you don’t mind,” Lucius said then, “We would like to sign the papers please.” 

“Of course,” Tobin said, still sounding uncertain. He produced a piece of parchment. Both Narcissa and Lucius seemed to scrutinize over it for a time before both signing it with a quill. They then offered it to Harry. Narcissa handed him the quill and pointed to the line where he needs to sign his name. Harry, having ever used a quill before, managed to somewhat write his name. It looked incredibly messy beside the neat signatures of Narcissa and Lucius. 

“You wish to proceed with the blood adopting?” Tobin asked, rolling up the scroll. He still looked rather uncomfortable with the whole thing, something which still confused Harry.

“We would.” Lucius said. 

Tobin then turned and went to a cluttered cabinet and returned with a small dagger and bowl. He sat the bowl on his desk and offered the dagger to Lucius. “All you have to do is read this,” he produced a small scroll and handed it to the taller man, “and allow your blood to drip into the bowl. Your wife will go next, followed by your son and then Harry.” 

Lucius nodded, slicing a small cut into his hand. Harry watched as his blood fell into the bowl. The bowl gave a loud hissing sound and purple smoke seemed to rise from it. “I, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, promise to care for Harry James Potter as my own son.” At his words, the smoke turned yellow. 

Lucius passed the dagger to his wife, who sliced her hand expertly and let her blood mix with her husband’s. “I, Narcissa Irma Black Malfoy, promise to care for Harry James Potter as my own son.” Again, the smoke changed from purple to yellow. 

Draco took the dagger next and did slowly cut his palm, wincing some. He let his blood fal into the bowl; the smoke turned to purple. “I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, promise to care for Harry James Potter as my own brother.” The smoke once again went yellow.

Harry took the dagger from Draco, shaking some. He gently pressed the dagger to his palm, awaiting the pain. To his surprise, he did not feel any as a small trickle of blood bloomed at the cut. He let it drip from his hand into the bowl. He then read the words the scroll indicted. “I, Harry James Potter, accept Lucius Malfoy as my father, Narcissa Malfoy as my mother and Draco Malfoy as my brother.” 

The smoke turned yellow one last time. 

“Congratulations, Mr. Potter.” Tobin said, hs voice shaking, “You have been adopted by the Malfoys.” 

Draco grinned, rushing to hug Harry before the words could sink in. Both Narcissa and Lucius bent down, hugging both their sons. Harry felt safe wrapped in their arms. 

Harry felt himself beam. All he could feel at this moment was utter joy and elation. He finally had a real family. His happiness seemed to reach even his bones, as he wanted to jump with joy. Draco beaming as well. Narcissa seemed as if she could cry. Lucius just looked happy with his family in his arms. For Harry, it was enough to nearly make him cry with all of the happy emotions in his body.  
“Err,” Tobin then spoke, cutting into the new family’s happiness. “You have settled Harry’s adopting here in the wizarding world. You will need to settle it as well in the goblin world. This should suffice.” He held out a sheet of parchment which Lucius quickly folded up and placed in his pocket. 

“Yes, we will make sure to take care of that.” Lucius replied shortly. “Thank you for your assistance.” 

“Yeah, thanks.” Harry said brightly, still hugging Draco.

“Come along boys,” Lucius chuckled. “I can show you my office, Harry.” 

“Really? Cool!” Harry cried, hurrying to follow Lucius from the room. Both witches rose to speak to them but the Malfoys moved past, too happy to be bothered by them. They got into another life and rode to the second level. 

Harry followed Lucius down a long winding hallway, looking around at the passing witches and wizards. They all looked very tough, which Harry supposed the ought to be if they were protecting the wizarding world. Many nodded their heads in greeting towards Lucius. At last, Lucius pushed open the door to his office. Inside sat a wizard behind a desk piled with papers. 

“Mr. Malfoy,” the wizard behind the desk stood up, “I thought you were taking the day off.” 

“I am, Cresswell. We were here for a meeting when I saw that whoever was sending out those memos was back. I was just hoping that I could put an end to it -again- before we leave.”

“Ah, yes,” Cresswell said, “I had meant to write to you about that. It’s no matter. I believe Kingsley sent one of the trainee aurors to handle it.”

“Ah, good.” Lucius said. He guestered to his family behind him, “You remember my wife and son? And this would be the newest addition to my family, Harry.” 

“Mrs. Malfoy,” Cresswell said, bowing slightly to Narcissa. He then turned to the boys. “Hello, Harry, Draco..”

“Harry, this is Dirk Cresswell, my assistant as of late. He sadly will be leaving me soon for the Goblin Liaison Office soon.” He then nodded to the pile on the desk. “Do we have anything good instead?” 

“Yes, a couple of arrests and two potential threats. I would recommend looking at them since you’re here, sir. They are rather important. It's about the attacks in south Wales.” Cresswell said, holding out two letters to Lucius.  
Lucius took the letters with a quick nod. He glanced back at his wife, who also nodded. Lucius turned to the two boys and said, “I’ll only be a few moments.” He then hurried up the steps into his office and closed the door. 

Harry followed Draco over to a set of chairs in the corner. Harry did his best to sit straight like Draco; he hadn’t been with the Malfoy’s long but he could see there was a certain expectation for them when they were in public. Besides, Harry was a member of their family now and did not want to disappoint them.

A few minutes passed and Harry was getting bored. He sensed Draco was too. Draco was busy shifting his head back and forth, staring at the ceiling. 

Cresswell noticed their boredom and smiled. He reached into his desk and pulled out set of gobilstones. “Here, boys. I think this should keep you occupied for a while.” 

“Thank you.” Draco said, taking them rather meekly. He turned to Harry, smiling. “Come on, Harry. I can teach you how to play goblistones. Harry settled in the corner, listening as Draco explained the rules. Meanwhile, Narcissa had come to watch them and Cresswell was writing something quietly. 

Bang!

The door to the office flew open and a tall blonde man came crashing into the room. He had sunken back eyes and a nasty look upon his face. Harry could tell he was wealthy, judging from his robes. 

“Yaxley,” Draco muttered in disgust. Harry looked at him, confused. What was a Yaxley?

“Is he here?” Barked the man, his robes billowing around him. He reminded Harry of the villains in the superhero shows Dudley would watch. 

“Mr. Malfoy is off today, Mr. Yaxley.” Cresswell said, “You can come back tomorrow. If it is an emergency, I would recommend an owl.”

“I know he was in the Ministry today, Cresswell. Rosier told me that he saw him. I am not a fool.” Yaxley barked, poudning his fist on the table. 

“I never said you were.” Cresswell said.

“Don’t give me that disrespect you dirty little mud-”

“Mr. Yaxley, please!” Narcissa snapped. Harry had gotten the impression that she had just prevented him from saying a bad word.  
Yaxley’s head snapped in their direction. Yaxley’s eyes landed on Narcissa and it broke out into a leering smile. Harry frowned at this, not liking the way he was looking at her. Yaxley let out a small laugh before speaking, “Ah, Narcissa, I had not realized you were here. You look lovely, like always.” 

“Yes, thank you.” Narcissa replied drily, moving to stand in front of her sons. Draco moved in front of Harry, obstructing Harry’s view of the man. “How have you been?”

“I would be better if I could get Lucius to agree with me.” Replied Yaxley, “How he got to become head of this department I’ll never know.” Harry felt a large surge of dislike towards the man. 

“Lucius worked very hard to get to where he is today, Corban.” Narcissa’s voice was like ice. Draco seemed to seethe with disgust. 

“Yes, yes.” Chuckled Yaxley, his eyes flickering down her body before speaking lowly. “I always thought you deserved far better than him, Cissy.” 

“Do not call me that.” Narcissa snapped. Harry saw her fingers twitch in the direction of her pocket, where he knew her wand was. “It’s Mrs. Malfoy to you.” 

“Now, now. I thought we were friends, Narcissa.” Yaxley teased, reaching out to touch a lock of her hair. Her fingers closed around his wrist like lightning. 

“We may associate within the same social circle but it does not mean that I have to like you.” She hissed. Yaxley looked stunned by her words, withdrawing his hand and taking a step back. “I advise that you leave if you do not want me to hex you.”

“Hex me?” Yaxley said, his eyes low. Cresswell was now standing, his wand ready should he have to step in. 

“Yaxley, what is the meaning of this?” Lucius’s voice rang from above. Harry turned, spotting him glaring at the man. He began to descend the steps, his expression one of displeasure. 

“It is nothing. It can wait until you return to work, I suppose.” Yaxley said coolly. His eyes settled on Draco before turning to Harry. He stared a Harry curiously; Harry felt a sharp pain stab at his scar. He nearly clapped a hand over it before turning to Lucius. “I did not realize that it was bring your kid to work day.” Yaxley left in a billow of robes. 

There was several moments of silence before Cresswell spoke. “Thank you for saying that to him, Mrs. Malfoy. I think he needed a few kicks from his pedestal.”

Narcissa nodded and Harry glanced up at her in admiration. It was clear she was not only pretty, but incredibly cunning too. Lucius smiled at his wife before nodded to his assistant. “I will see you tomorrow, Cresswell.” 

Harry hurried after Lucius. He could still feel his scar tingling.  
\-----------------------------------  
Harry flooded with Narcissa to a place called Diagon Alley. Having no idea, what he could expect, Harry was shocked when he stepped into the bright sunlight to lay eyes on the cobblestone shopping street. There were shops selling robes, while some shops sold telescopes and several vendors selling strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before. The sharing windows of the shops were stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, giant quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon, and many books. 

“Welcome to Diagon Alley, Harry.” Narcissa said, clutching his hand. 

“This is amazing.” Harry gasped, his eyes not knowing where to look.There were many other witches and wizards about, as well as elves and small children running about. Above them, bright flashes of light crackled in the air, high above the tops of buildings. His cloak hood fell back and Narcissa hurried to put it back up. She, too, was cloaked. 

“Won’t muggles see those?” Harry asked Narcissa. 

“No, the entire alley and the adjacent streets are charmed so that muggles cannot find them, unless they are given special entrance at the Leaky Cauldron. That is the only entrance to the alley from the muggle world.” Narcissa replied. Draco and Lucius appeared moments later, their cloak hoods up.

“Mum, can I get an owl?” Draco asked at once.  
“Dragon, we’ve been over this. You can get an owl before you go off to Hogwarts.” Narcissa sighed. 

“But Greg has one.” Draco complained. 

“Gregory Goyle? Can that boy even write?”

“Lucius,” Narcissa hissed. Lucius instantly straighten up, gently smacking his son on the back of the head. 

“Draco, stop behaving like that.” Lucius quipped. Draco straightened up at once, but was smirking. “Now, let’s go to Gringotts. Draco, take my hand. I do not want you getting lost in the crowd.” 

“If I hold your hand, I at least want to see the dragon.” Draco said firmly, crossing his arms.

“Ah, bartering, I see. You will make a fine heir to our line, no doubt. Yes, we can see the dragon if you hold my hand.” Lucius said, looking impressed by his five year old son. 

Harry clung to Narcissa’s hand, making sure to be beside her at all times. The wizards and witches seemed to move out of the Malfoys’s way, however. Harry couldn’t help but also feel a bit nervous. He had several see some of Dudley’s cartoons and the dragon was always evil.

“Are we really going to see a dragon?” He asked Narcissa.

She glanced down and must have noticed the look of concern on his face. “Yes, dear. But the dragons will not hurt you. If you really do not wish to see them, I can stay with you while they go.” She said softly, giving his hand a squeeze.

“No, its okay.” Harry said, relaxing some. “I want to see them.” For a brief moment, he wished he could see the look on Dudley's face when Harry told him he had seen a real dragon. 

An imposing snow-white multistoried marble building that towers over the neighbouring shops  
appeared in front of them at an intersection of Diagon Alley, and a place called Knockturn Alley. Harry took one glance down to the streets of Knockturn Alley and instantly knew he never wanted to go down there. It was a dark street. It the first stop window was many skulls and dark cloaks. He moved closed to Narcissa. 

“You would have to be mad to try and rob Gringotts,” Harry overhead two schools wizards saying. 

“Yeah, the only safer place to hide your stuff is Hogwarts.” said the other. 

They climbed a set of white stairs leading up to a set of burnished bronze doors. The doors were flanked by a what Harry assumed as a goblin in a uniform of scarlet and gold. They entered Gringotts and found in a small entrance hall and another set of doors. Harry peered up to read the engraved words on the door. 

Enter, stranger, but take heed  
Of what awaits the sin of greed  
For those who take, but do not earn,  
Must pay most dearly in their turn.  
So if you seek beneath our floors  
A treasure that was never yours,  
Thief, you have been warned, beware  
Of finding more than treasure there.

Past the doors was a vast marble hall with long counters stretching along its length with doors. Hundreds of goblins sitting were at them. They all peered down at the family. Harry once again pressed closer to Narcissa; he found the goblins, with their long noses and beady eyes, rather uncomfortable. 

Lucius walked up to the highest desk. A very formidable looking goblin sat behind it. Lucius tossed back his hood, staring up at the goblin. Harry saw Draco puff out his chest at the goblin and fought to roll his eyes. 

“Good afternoon, Griphook.” Lucius said, “We would like to speak with you about allowing our son to access his vault and will. We would also like to formally have him acknowledged as our son within the Goblin Nation as well.” He slid the letter given to him by Tobin across the counter. The goblin read the letter very carefully, his beady eyes going over every word.

“Mr. Potter,” The goblin said, his eyes coming to rest of Harry. Harry wished for the floor to swallow him under the globin’s gaze, for he was staring at his very hard. “If you will follow me, I can take you to read your will.” The goblin climbed down from the desk; he was the same height as Harry but that didn’t make him less intimidating.

“Alone?” He managed to say. Narcissa’s hand fell on Harry’s shoulder. 

“I will be accompanying my godson.” She said very firmly and left no room for question. The goblin nodded to her.

“Of course, Lady Malfoy. If you all,” he drawled out the word, “would follow me.” 

They followed the goblin into a huge room on the side of the hall. It was filled with many different piles of parchment stored inside huge stone vaults. The goblin went trotting down the aisle, stopping at one rather tall pile. Harry had to crane his neck to see the top. “Potter,” said Griphook.

A piece of parchment came fluttering down and landed in Harry’s hand. There was a gold seal which folded the parchment together. It fell open at his touch.

Harry James Potter  
Parents: James Potter and Lily Potter (née Evans)  
Adoptive Parents: Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy (née Black)  
Godfather: Sirius Black  
Godmother: Narcissa Malfoy ( née Black)  
Inherited: Contents of vault 687; Potter Family fortune; Lordship of House Potter (when he becomes of age); James Potter’s Invisibility Cloak  
Inherited: Malfoy Family fortune

“It seems everything is in order,” Griphook said, nodding to the paper. “We, as a Gobin Nation, formally recognized Harry Potter as a member of House Malfoy.” 

Draco grinned at Harry and winked. 

“We would like to access our vault as well,” Lucius said, handing Griphook a golden key. The goblin took it and examined it. The gobin nodded and motioned for them to follow him. They arrived at a series of small carts, which they got in. The moment Harry’s butt hit the seat, the cart jostled forward and the went hurtling into the depths of the bank. The cart was very fast and made sharp movements, knocking Harry back and forth. Harry was vaguely aware of Draco laughing with glee over the roar of the wind in his ears. 

The next thing he knew, they were shooting downwards and Harry closed his eyes; they stopped suddenly, twisting around a dark corner. Vault were flashing by quickly. Harry spotted a waterfall falling over the tracts. The cold water splashed over him and he yelped. Before he could register it, they had come to a stop. 

Harry turned to glance at Draco and Lucius. They were both soaked as well, but grinning. Narcissa on the other hand, was half leaning out of the cart, looking rather green. Her soaked hair clung to her face. 

“Still not a fan of our carts, I see. You did better than the first time I assisted you, Mrs. Malfoy.” Quipped Griphook. “At least you did not throw up on your mother’s shoes.” The goblin laughed, “I will never forget that, for sure.” 

“Yes, thank you.” Lucius said to the goblin, clearly irritated by him making fun of his still green wife. “Come, Narcissa.” 

She stood rather shakily and followed her husband from the cart and onto the stone where her sons stood. Harry looked above them and could make out the fast moving lights on the carts zipping above them. He felt Lucius tap him with his wand and he was no longer wet. Currently, they were standing on a cave like structure at the very bottom of the bank. Somewhere in the distance, there was a roar. 

“The dragon,” Draco told Harry brightly. “It’s incredible! Wait till you see it!” He hurried off after Griphook. 

Farther in the cave stood a huge vault door, guarded by none other than a dragon. Harry froze, taking in the hug beast. It titled its head at them, baring fangs the size of a bicycle. It had thick looking green scales and claws with looked as if it could slice a person cleanly in two. 

Griphook began to shake a large bell at the dragon. It moved backwards from it, as if it was frightened. He then began to move towards the vault, still shaking the bell. Finally, he pressed his entire hand to the vault door and it swung open. Harry followed the others inside.

Harry’s jaw dropped. Inside, there were piles of golden coins, jewels and various golden encrusted boxes. There were piles of expensive looking books and art. In one corner, several jewel encrusted swords leaned against the wall. Glittering goblets and plates sat upon tables. Jewelry of all shapes and sizes sat in a glass cabinet along the far wall. 

Lucius was busy scrapping some gold coins into a pouch. He then deposited it into his coat and they left the vault, Harry still marveling at the sight. The Dursleys would have died if they had seen what he had. 

They road the cart back up and left the bank, their cloaks back up. Harry was then fitted for an entire wardrobe by a nice woman named Madame Malkin. Then, he was bought some books about the wizarding world. Draco dragged them off to a Quidditch store; Lucius bought both he and Harry new training brooms. This excited Harry for he was anxious to learn to fly. Finally, Lucius bought them all ice cream before they headed home.

The moment they arrived, Draco and Harry ran to the garden. The family spent the rest of the evening there. Lucius taught Harry how to properly mount a broom and glide with it. Quickly, Harry and Draco were gliding along the grass, watching Lucius fly above them. He would dive at them occasionally, forcing them to scatter. Harry had a fond memory of him chasing Narcissa, scoping her up and flying high into the air. He laughed as she shrieked at him, ordering him to get her off the “glorified death trap” and put her down. 

After dinner and tea, also in the garden, Harry was utterly exhausted. The family decided to turn in early. Harry went to his room, brushed his teeth and pulled on a pair of Draco’s pajamas; his would be arrive until the next day. He crawled into bed with one of the books he had received. 

There was a knock on the door and Narcissa and Lucius appeared. 

“Hello,” Harry said. They came and sat beside him on the bed. 

“We came to wish you goodnight,” Lucius said. “We hope you enjoyed your first day here in the Wizarding World.” 

“I did,” Harry said. “It was amazing.” 

“I’m glad you liked it, darling.” Narcissa said, kissing him on the forehead. Harry was overcome with emotions; no one had ever kissed him before, let alone showed him love. He began to cry.

“Harry,” Narcissa hurried to wipe the tears away. “Sweetheart, don’t cry. What’s wrong?”  
“I just...no one has ever been so kind to me.” He said. “Thank you for adopting me. I couldn’t ask for a better family.” At this, Narcissa started to cry too. She wrapped Harry in a tight hug, rocking his slowly. 

“We love you, Harry.” Lucius said, wrapping both Harry and Narcissa in a hug. 

“I love you too, mum and dad.” Harry said. At this, Lucius Malfoy shed a tear.  
\--------------------------------  
Later that night, Narcissa and Lucius lay awake beside each other. Both their minds were racing with happiness over their new son but also with worry. They both knew that Harry’s adoption would spring up many rumors and cause many problems for them.

“Luc,” Narcissa finally spoke, rolling over so that she could face her husband. “What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to do exactly what we planned,” He said, thought he sounded uncertain. 

“So, tell the Death Eaters that we’ll hand him over when the time comes,” Narcissa replied flatly. She did not like the idea nor did her husband.

“We don’t have much of a choice there, Cissa.” He sighed, “Most of them are pretty thick and will believe our reasoning. Some might doubt us, but we should be able to hold them off. We’ve done it before and we can do it again.” 

“Yes, but what about the general public? If news gets out that Harry Potter is being raised by the Malfoys, it’s going to anger many people. There are plenty of people out there who think you lied about the imperius curse. They will be outraged to learn that a couple of slimy Death Eaters are raising The Boy-Who-Lived. And some of the others, they will all want to meet Harry. I’m worried about them harassing him. He’s just a boy.” Narcissa said.

“Having second thoughts, are we?” Lucius teased. 

“Absolutely not,” Narcissa hissed, shoving him. “I love Harry and I will protect him no matter the cost. That doesn’t mean that I don’t worry for him, or for the rest of us.”

“There is no doubt that it will be hard for us and him. We were careful in Diagon Alley to assure that Harry would not be noticed. I want him to learn more about our world before everyone becomes aware that he has returned to it.” Lucius said. 

Narcissa sighed, “Watch. There will be an article in tomorrow's paper from Rita Skeeter, I can see it now. ‘Wizarding Savior to be raised by ex-Death Eaters.’ I can’t wait.” 

“Speaking of ex-Death Eaters,” Lucius said, “What did Yaxley want?”  
“To speak with you, I believe,” Narcissa said. “He insulted Cresswell and was going to call him the bloody word in front of the boys. I told him to stop and he was creepy as usual.” 

“Yes,” Lucius chuckled, “I think he has a soft spot for you.” 

Narcissa snorted. “I think I’d rather getting eaten by giants than speak with him again. We’ll have to see how he reacts when you see him tomorrow; I told him off finally.”

“Ah good.” Lucius smiled, pecking her cheek. “He needed some sense knocked into him. I have a feeling he will be one of the harder ones to convince. I’m not sure he ever fully thought I was on his side of the war, too.” 

“I just pray that my parents don’t learn of Harry too soon.” Narcissa said. “I am almost grateful that your father isn’t around anymore.”

“I am,” Lucius said, “Otherwise, I think you and I would be dead, along with Harry. Draco would be raised to be complete arse like I was as well.” 

Narcissa shuddered at the thought. “Please, don’t say that.” 

“It’s okay, love. He’s not here though. He can’t harm us anymore. We’re all going to be okay, too. We have each other.” Lucius said. He pulled his wife close, kissed her and held her as they both fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, thanks for reading so far. As always, Please let me know if there's anything at all that you like or don't like about the story. I've got some ideas for the story mapped out but if there's anything you think I should add, please let me know :)


	3. Meet the Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really felt that Draco and Tonks would have got along well had they actually known each other. I’ve opted to make them close in this for that reason.

Gradually, four weeks flew by and Harry had learned so much. The day following his adoption, Lucius had taken him aside and told Harry all about how the wizarding world is governed. He explained about how there were many departments in which helped control the wizarding world and how each country had one. Narcissa had given him a crash course in the history of the wizarding world. She told him all about Merlin and some of the first wizards, all the way up to present day. Harry had the feeling that she did not talk about some of the bad parts. Nevertheless, she gave him a book on the history of wizarding.

Draco was keen on filling Harry in on Quidditch rules. It did not take Harry very long to understand them. Lucius had also shown him how to ride a beginners broom. Soon, both Harry and Draco were busy spending their afternoons riding the brooms in the garden, passing the quaffle back and forth. They loved to pretend like they were playing for the Quidditch Cup at Hogwarts.

The two boys rapidly became very close. They loved to talk for hours; Draco telling Harry about the Wizarding world and Harry telling him about the muggle world. They would also sit for hours reading books on magical creatures and plants before running off to pretend that they were magizoologist and needed to catch them.

Harry had since grown accustomed to the moving pictures and paintings through the manor. He was no longer alarmed when his mirror talked to him or when a random object went floating by. He had gotten used to Dobby and Peasy, although it still felt weird to ask them to do things for him. It reminded him of being at the Dursleys.

Harry fell into a routine of sorts. He would wake up and put on clothes that the Dursleys would die for. Harry didn’t really care what material his clothes were made from, he was just glad that they fit him properly for once; Narcisa had ordered him plenty of clothes the day after he arrived. After brushing his hair and making himself look presentable (for a Malfoy must always look presentable, he had learned), he would go to eat breakfast.

Breakfast was a happy affair. Lucius and Narcissa would read the newspaper, The Daily Prophet. It was filled with moving pictures and stories that the two could talk about for hours it seemed. Draco and Harry would read the lastest news on Quidditch and then spent the rest of breakfast discussing the latest games with their father.

After breakfast, Lucius would leave for work as a member of the Wizamont, the wizard court, and as the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Narcissa would busy herself with letters for most of the morning. Harry asked Draco why she wrote so many once. Draco explained that she tended to with a large majority of managing the Malfoy family fortune. He also said she was a gifted Arithmancer, or someone who specializes in the field of Arithmancy, a branch of magic that involves using complicated number charts to make predictions. She worked alongside the Auror office to try and solve many of the charts. Harry had once seen a chart. It had made zero sense to him, as well as Draco.

While the adults worked, Harry and Draco would be given a series of lessons and were taught by a old woman named Bathilda Bagshot. She was able to teach them about the Wizarding world and teach them about spell theories or magical creatures. Harry enjoyed learning about his new world, even if his teacher looked as if she could die at any moment.

It was one morning in particular that Harry came to learn that the magical world was not as wonderful as it seemed.

It had been quite that morning at breakfast. Harry and Draco were busy eating their eggs, watching the pictures of Quidditch players in the Prophet, and silently dreaming about one day having their own pictures on the front of the sports section. Lucius and Narcissa were busy reading letters.

Harry looked up from the Prophet as he heard the sound of wings approaching. A huge barn owl with sharp talons flew in from the open window and landed beside Narcissa, looking quite expectedly at her.

“Oh, great.” Draco muttered, clearly recognizing the owl. “What could they want?”

“Is that a howler?” Lucius asked curiously, peering at the letter is the owl’s beak. Harry peered curiously at the red tinted envelope, wondering what a howler is. Maybe that was the owl’s name.

“Yes,” Narcissa replied, snatching the letter from the bird’s beak with a surprising force. The owl screeched at her, flapping its wings angrily. She glared at the owl, and it settled at once. “It seems they somehow found out about Harry’s adoption.”

“Who is they?” Harry asked, looking between his new family, rather confused.

“Mum’s parents.” Draco said, “They’re dreadful.”

“Draco,” Lucius warned as Narcissa began to hurriedly open the letter as smoke seemed to flow from it. “Please do not call your grandparents that.”

It was quite for several moments as they all watched Narcissa's face as she read the letter. Her face slowly began to form a frown as she read, becoming deeper and deeper as her eyes got farther down the parchment. Finally, she set the letter down with a sigh.

“My dear parents would like to come to dinner this evening. Also we’re going to have to remove a large number of portatues from around the house.” Narcissa said, looking like that was the last thing she wished for.

“How lovely.” Lucius said. Like his wife, he looked as if it was the last thing on earth he’d rather do. “What time should we expect them?”

“Seven.” Narcissa sighed. “And we should expect quite the evening.”

“Oh, tell me they’re not bringing that stupid pet Kneazle of Grandmothers. It nearly killed me last time.” Draco cried.

“Draco, don’t be so dramatic,” scoffed his father. “All it did was knock you to the floor and lick you. You were in no danger. However, Baxter was, so I am hoping that it is not coming. Am I correct, Narcissa?”

“The kneazle chased Baxter around the gardens for hours. Finally, it caught Baxter and ended up tearing out some of its wings.” Draco explained to Harry. Harry smirked some as he imaged the cat like creature chasing the white peacock around the garden.

“Yes, poor Baxter.” Narcissa commented, her eyes not meeting her husband’s. “It would have been such as shame it we have lost him.” Harry and Draco giggled at this, but Lucius looked displeased.

Harry had quickly learned that she and Lucius’s pet peacock were not friends by any means. He had witnessed it chase her around the yard for a time, pecking at her ankles, when she had come to fetch them from the gardens. Finally, she had stunned the bird to get it to leave her alone. The next morning, it had come to the window at breakfast to glare at her and clack its beak threateningly. Lucius, of course, rushed to comfort the upset peacock which, according to his wife and sworn-to-secrecy sons, had taken a tumble due to fast winds. As he gently patted the bird, Harry could have sworn he’d seen the peacock smirk at Narcissa, before nestling into Lucius’s shoulder.

“Do we have lessons today, mum?” Draco asked, changing the subject so that his parents didn’t revert back to their usual arguments about the bird.

“No, dear.” Narcissa said, sipping her tea. “I was hoping we could speak with Harry after breakfast though.”

Harry bit his lip, feeling a sharp stab in his stomach. “Am I in trouble?”

“Oh no, sweetheart.” Narcissa said, smiling at him softly. “I want to explain somewhat about what might...err...befall us at dinner.”

Harry was confused by her words and continued wonder about it the for the remainder of breakfast. Finally, Peasy and Dobby arrived to clear dishes and Harry followed Narissa into the drawing room while Draco hurried outside to chase Baxter on one of their toy brooms.

Narcissa’s settled herself into one of the chairs, brushing off her skirt rather nervously. Harry’s stomach felt like a thousand butterflies were trapped in it, making him feel very antsy. Finally, Narcissa glanced up at him and noticed him standing.

“Harry, sit down. You’re making me nervous.” she gave him a small smile. Again, Harry noticed that she was nervous as well, and felt somewhat better. If she is nervous too, it can’t be that bad, he thought to himself as he sat.

“Harry, I want you to know that all three of us love you very much. We can’t imagine our lives without you now.” Narcissa said after a moment and Harry was confused. Were her parents trying to take him away from her?

The door opened beside them and Lucius strode in, his robes billowing behind him. Harry was surprised that he was still here, having usually left for work by now.

“Lucius, I thought you had a meeting this morning.” Narcissa said, peering up at her husband.

“I did. I’m going to be late. It’s just with Yaxley, so I can make him wait,” He replied with a wave of his hand. “I felt that I should be here with you to talk with Harry.” He placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

“Harry, you’ve been our son for a little over a month now.” Lucius said, sitting beside his wife now. “We are incredibly proud and happy to call you our son.” Harry felt a swell of pride within his chest.

“Unfortunately, Harry, there some people who would disapprove of you living with us.” Narcissa said softly. “This is due to a terrible belief which has plagued the wizarding world for many years. It is about Blood Purity.”

“What does that mean? Is my blood gross or something?” Harry asked, confused.

“Of course not,” Lucius said at once. “Blood Purity is an ideology viewed by some wizards as important. You see, in our world there are three kinds of blood statuses. There are pure bloods, who come from lines of witches and wizards only. Half bloods are wizards and witches who have Muggle or Muggle-born parents or grandparents. There are also muggle borns; they are people who are born to two non-magical parents. Their magical abilities do not seem to be at all affected by their Muggle parentage, however. Some great witches and wizards were muggleborns. Your mother, Lily, being one of them.”

“Was my Dad one too?” Harry asked.

“He was a pureblood,” Lucius said. “He married your mother, a muggle born, so therefore you are a half blood. It is the most common type of wizarding blood, for wizards would have died out had they not married muggles or muggle-borns.”

“Are you half bloods, too?”

“No,” Narcissa replied, “We are purebloods.”

“Unfortunately, there are some purebloods who believe they are better than everyone else simply because they have no muggle blood in their veins.” Lucius said, “They disapprove of marriages outside of the pureblood circle. They also do not try to associate with anyone other than the purebloods and greatly disapprove of purebloods who do not share their beliefs.”

“Those people sound mean.” Harry said, thinking of his aunt and uncle. Suddenly, a horrible thought occurred to him; The malfoys were pureblood, so did they share this belief?

“You are pureblood. Do you...do you think-”

“No,” Lucius replied, “Narcissa and I do not agree with this idea. However, both our parents believe in this idea, so they will most likely not be thrilled to see we have you.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry said, looking down at his feet. He felt ashamed, somewhat. As horrible as these people sound, Harry still wanted them to like him. It was crushing to think that they would not like him simply because he did not have the same blood as them, not because of who he was.

Narcissa moved from the couch to sit beside him. She pulled him onto her lap, gently stroking his hair. Harry fought to keep from crying as she gently pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Harry, I never want to hear you apologize for your blood status again. There is nothing wrong with being half blood. Your blood type makes no difference to us; we love you for who you are.”

Lucius joined them on the couch, wrapping his arms around Harry and Narcissa. He also kissed the top of Harry’s head. “You are our son now and there is nothing anyone can do to say otherwise.”

Harry sat back against Narcissa and let the happiness soak right into his bones. He wanted this feeling to still be there every day until he was old. He closed his eyes and savoured the moment, but never releasing his grip on the Narcissa’s hand. He loved feeling his new parent’s arms wrapped around him, making him feel safe.

The door swung open and Draco popped his head in. He raised his eyebrows at his family, clearly annoyed. “I see you are having a nice family moment without me.” Harry laughed, as did his parents.

“Come here, Dragon,” Called Narcissa and Draco charged forward, leaping into his father’s arms. Draco let out a squeal when Lucius began to tickle him. His flaining ams began to hit the others and Harry laughed.

“Draco, you look like a helicopter.” He cried.

“A what?” three voices asked.

“A thing with these three sharp things that spin in circles. Muggles use them to fly.” Harry said, unsure how explain it to them.

“Oh,” Lucius said like he understood.

“Why don’t muggles just use brooms to fly?” Harry twisted around to face Lucius. “They have them.”

“I have no idea, Harry.” Lucius said, still sounding highly amused.

“Yeah, Uncle Ted said that when he first came back from Hogwarts, he came home and tried to bewitch his mums broom to fly. He said it hovered around the room and tried to sweep up his cat.” Draco said with a giggle.

“Did he now?” It was Narcissa’s turn to sound amused.

“Well, I don’t know how well Ted can fly, but he obviously couldn’t clean very well then.” Lucius said.

“He still can’t. Remember, he tried to charm away the dust on the lamp and ended up multiplying it.’ Draco said. Both Narcissa and Lucius laughed before the family settled into a quite, comfortable silence. After a few moments, Narcissa spoke.

“Lucius, dear.”

“Yes, love?”

“Don’t you have a meeting you’re late for?”

“Merlin!” Lucius leapt up, removing Draco from his lap and onto the floor. “I have to go boys.” He bent to kiss each one of the top of their head before moving to his wife. “What would I do without you?”

“Be late to meetings.” his wife replied. Lucius chuckled, pulling her to her feet and softly pressing a kiss to her lips.

“Gross.” Draco cried, turning away in horror. His parents broke apart and chuckled at him. “Father, why did you do that?”

“One day you will understand, son.” Lucius chuckled, ruffling his hair before leaving the room.

“Can we go now?” Draco asked, looking very hard at the wall and not at his mother.

“Yes, darling. Have fun.” She replied.

Harry and Draco spent the rest of the morning in the garden riding brooms and chasing Baxter around. The stopped only to eat lunch but did stop around six when their father came home and was displeased to see them chasing his beloved bird. After several apologies, the two boys were sent to their rooms to put on robes.

Harry had never seen such fine cloth, he realizes as he slid the silky dress robe on over his dress clothes. It made him feel powerful and sophisticated like Lucius. Draco commented on the same thing when he arrived to show Harry his new black dress robes he was wearing.

By seven, the four Malfoys were waiting in the parlor for the arrival of Narcissa’s parents. Lucius wore a deep green robe, made of silk like the boys. Narcissa donned a deep purple gown and had done her hair in an elegant chignon. Both adults looked rather nervous; Draco just looked annoyed.

Harry could feel the trepidation creep up inside him, grasping at his throat. He was sweating, constantly wiping his palms on his legs. He worried about what would come and if the people he was about to meet were as terrible as Draco made them out to be.

The fireplace roared to life and Harry jumped. A tall woman stepped out, scanning the room with her sharp blue eyes. It struck Harry how much she looked like Narcissa, with long blonde hair and her sharp cheekbones. She wore an expression of boredom.

“Mother,” Narcissa said, rising to greet her.

Druella’s eyes locked with her daughters as she gave a smile. Harry saw hints of warmth in her smile but it did not reach her eyes. Their embrace was rather awkward, for clearly they were only doing it out of obligation.

The fire again roared to life as a man stepped out. He was an older man with graying hair and beard; his demeanor was quite sharp and Harry got the impression he was not one to be messed with. Both he and his wife wore dress robes like Narcissa and Lucius wore.

“Father,” Narcisa said, bowing her head towards her father. He stepped forward and kissed her on the cheek. Harry saw Draco stiffen out of the corner of his eye.

“Cygnus,” Lucius said, stepping forward and shaking the man’s hand. “How are you?”

“Oh, I am quite well, Lucius. Thank you.” Cygnus said. His voice was the deepest Harry had ever hard and it most certainly made Harry feel somewhat intimidated. His eyes latched onto Draco. “How are you, my grandson?”

“I am very well, thank you, Grandfather.” Draco said in as formal of a tone as Harry heard Lucius use. This all was very odd; the way they were standing and speaking, it was almost like they were different people.

Oh, my little Draco,” Cried Druella, rushing to press a kiss to Draco’s cheek. Draco went very rigid as she kissed him. When she pulled away, there was a huge lipstick mark left behind.

Harry felt Narcissa’s gentle hands land on his shoulder. He desperately wished to do nothing but crawl behind her legs, out of sight, for the rest of the evening. He did not though; he knew it was not proper and that he must, as a Malfoy, be able to always look strong and be prepared for anything.

“Mother, Father,” Narcissa said clearly. Both of her parent’s eyes landed on Harry and he suddenly felt very small. His itching to run upstairs and hide grew stronger. “This is my Godson, Harry Potter.”

“Ah, yes. So we’ve heard.” Druella said, stepping towards Harry. It took everything in his power to not flee. The woman bent down to be eye level with him and Harry thought she looked very much like a hawk.

“I am Lady Druella Black, Narcissa’s mother.” She said, extending her hand. “It is very nice to meet you.”

“It is nice to meet you too,” Harry heard himself say. He shook hands with her, nearly recoling with how cold her hands where.

“Ah yes,” Said Cygnus, standing beside his wife, “Harry Potter.” He stared at Harry for a moment and Harry felt a sharp stab of pain in his forehead like he had with Yaxley. He winced.

“Cygnus Black, the third. “ He said, shaking Harry’s hand. The shake was brief and Harry was grateful. Fortunately, Peasy arrived to announce dinner.

Cygnus clicked his tongue at the elf as she vanished. He turned to his daughter and son-in-law. “I still think you are far too kind to these elves. I think you should take up your Aunt Walburga’s old practice, Narcissa.”

Narcissa only made a soft noise in acknowledgment as they proceeded into the dining room. Harry hurried the Draco’s side and was pleased to see that they were sitting by each other. He was not pleased to find that Cygns was to be seated across from him.

The meal was, as usual, very good. Clearly the kitchen elves had outdone themselves in an attempt to impress their guests. The conversation was quite boring; Druella spent most of it gossiping or it was Cygnus and Lucius discussing a trade deal the ministry was going through with the French Ministry.

“I must say, Narcissa, I was very surprised to hear from your father’s mother’s painting that you had adopted Lily Potter’s son.” Druella said as they began to eat desert. “I had not realized you were friends with her. How did you come about her son then?” There was something deadly sounding in her voice.

Narcissa set her spoon down before turning to her mother. “Harry needed a place to live and Lucius and I have always wanted another child. Harry fits in with us percently.”

“You did not answer my question, dear.” Druella said cooly. Harry said Lucius’s hand twitch slightly. Draco seemed like he was holding his breath.

“Harry is my Godson,” Narcissa said firmly. “And his Godfather was unable to care for him so the duty of caring for him fell to me.”

“How did you manage to get named Godmother to a half-blood like Harry Potter, Narcissa?” Druella chuckled coldly. Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

“I am persuasive, mother. You of all people should know that,” Narcissa said, the coldness in her tone matching her mother’s. Druella frowned at her daughter and then fixed Harry with a glare.

“Narcissa, do you realize what this means for the family line?” Cygnus said finally. He had been watching the exchange from a distance.

“Of course,” Narcissa replied evenly. “I should think you would be happy to see that there are more of our bloodline to carry on.”

Harry swore he saw Lucius smirk, but it was gone so fast he could have imagined it. Cygnus’s grip on his fork was so tight that Harry thought it might snap in half. Druella gasped, clutching her chest. Narcissa was staring down her parents evenly.

“Boys, you are excused. Why don’t you go upstairs and play?” Lucius spoke, having sensed the screaming match that was going to break out. Harry did not need telling twice. He and Draco rushed from the room.

“How could you do this, Narcissa?” Harry had just stepped foot from the room when he heard Druella’s voice cry. While everything in his mind screamed to keep running, Harry felt his feet glue to the floor. “You adopted a half blood.” She said the word as if gave her physical pain to say.

“I am well aware of Harry’s blood status, mother. We have already done a blood bind.” Narcissa’s voice had risen some too.

“What are we to tell the others?” Cried Druella. “I cannot afford this kind of embarrassment again.”

“Ted Tonks was a muggleborn.” Narcissa’s voice said. “However, Harry is a half blood, like most of our population. I do not see how this could cause you embarrassment.”

“Don’t you dare bring that vile man into this, daughter.” Cygnus had spoken. “What you are ignoring is the fact that he is part mudblood.”

Harry heard Draco gasp from behind him. He turned to see him standing there also, transfixed by the adults conversation. Harry had no idea what mudblood meant but it obviously was not something that should be said.

“I’d prefer if you did not use that kind of language in my house, father.” Narcissa said cooly. “We have spoken about this before.”

“You,” Durella’s voice cried. Harry assumed she had turned to Lucius. “After all your father had done to assure our rightful place in society, you turn and betray him like this. Are you really willing to pollute your bloodline?”

“In many circumstances, I would not.” Lucius drawled, sounding bored. “However, this is Harry Potter we are talking about. Quite possible one of the greatest wizard to ever live. You should be honored to have him as your grandson.”

Harry was confused. Greatest wizard to ever live? What did Lucius mean? He turned to Draco in utter confusion.

“That boy nearly destroyed the Dark Lord.” Cygnus had said, “He ended the war which we nearly won.”

“Remember that war mum told you about? The one that ended right after we were born?” Draco asked and Harry nodded. “Remember how she told you that there was a baby who was able to defeat The Dark Lord and saved us? Well that was you.”

Harry was shocked. He had defeated a Dark Wizard as a baby? Was that why everyone was so shocked to meet him? There was a thousand questions running through the young boys mind, making him dizzy. When he pulled himself out of it, the adults were still talking.

“Have you ever considered that Harry defeated the Dark Lord for a reason?” Lucius asked.

“What are they talking about?” Harry asked Draco. His heart was beating fast and his knees felt like rubber. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants.

“What do you mean?” Druella asked.

“Harry may have been the Dark Lord’s downfall but he will grow to be a great wizard, there is no doubt. Only a fool would doubt it. Besides, Harry is a Malfoy now and we will raise him with the right beliefs. ” Lucius replied. “I would assume you agree with us, unless you think Narcissa and I are fools.”

There was a horrible silence.

“I suppose.” Cygnus said. Harry held his breath, waiting for Druella’s reply. There was another very long pause before Durella spoke.

“I am very displeased with both of you. I expect that you will have better reasoning for this when you come to the gathering next week regarding your actions. While we may give you a reprieve, I highly doubt that the others will see eye to eye with you. I should only hope that this does not give you status of a blood traitor, Narcissa. I do not think I could bear to lose another daughter to the mudbloods.”

There was actual sadness in Druella’s words; this shocked Harry. Maybe, she wasn’t an evil woman after all.

“Harry, they’re coming.” Draco hissed, grabbing onto Harry’s arm and dragging him behind a nearby tapestry. They huddled there, praying they would not be caught. They could hear the sounds of footsteps, followed by the floo twice.

After a moment, Harry dared to peak his head out. Both Narcissa and Lucius were standing in the doorway between the dining room and parlor. Lucius looked quite aggravated; his lips were a very tight line and his eyes were incredibly narrow as he glared at the fireplace his in-laws had just left from. Narcissa was incredibly pale, her eyes looking somewhat glassed over.

Harry had the strong desire to burst from the room to ask what they had meant by him defeating the Dark Lord. He was angry that they had kept something like this from him. However, they had both just defended him. He didn’t fully understand what they had meant with their words.

When he confronted them about it, they both, rather guilty, explained to Harry that he had saved the Wizarding World from an evil man. While Harry didn’t understand fully, they promised he would one day.

And so Harry Potter-Malfoy moved on with his life.  
\-----------------------  
“Come on, Harry,” Draco hissed the next day. The pair were currently pretending to be magizoologist somewhere in Africa, chasing down a dangerous Nundu. They were both in the wing of the manor in which Harry had never been in. Harry could see why.

It wasn’t well lit and seemed to be in a constant state of semi darkness. The walls were bare, save a few paintings of some of Lucius's more terrible ancestors. Dust had collected everywhere. Many of the doors were locked or chained shut. It felt incredibly eerie in the long hallways.

“This place is creepy.” Harry said.

“I know,” Draco said. “But it makes the perfect place to find a Nundu.”

Harry followed him down a winding set of sets into an small room. The room was filled with several items, all covered in dust; it was clear that this was a storage room. Harry ran his finger along the top of a chest; several inches of dust fell from it.

“I wonder why all this stuff is in here?” Harry said to Draco.

“This used to be my grandfather Abraxas’s wing.” Draco said, “I think he died during the war and dad closed the wing off.”

“Are we supposed to be in here?”

“It’s not like mum or dad ever outright said not to enter the wing. They just pretend like it doesn’t exist.” Draco said. “I don’t think they liked my grandfather very much...Wow, Harry! Look at this.” Draco held a dark cloak in his hands. There were many different stars and snakes weaved into it. Draco tossed it behind his back and grinned as he clasped it.

“Yeah, you look like someone who has no sense of style,” Harry said.

“Shut up, Potter,” Draco snapped back, narrowing his eyes. He wasn’t mad, of course. However, he had taken to calling Harry ‘Potter’ when he was annoyed with him. “It’s very fashionable.”

“In the 1800s.” Harry replied, smirking.

Draco scoffed and moved towards a tall object with a tarp thrown over it. He pulled on it, sending it crashing down with at least a pound of dust. Harry coughed, his eyes burning.

There was a blank portrait there. It was very large, probably the same height as Lucius was tall. There was a fire burning in the fireplace and a high backed chair painted in the portrait. A skull sat on the the mantle above the fireplace. A white peacock feather sat beside it.

It made Harry uneasy to look at. Draco seemed fascinated, however. He moved towards it, his nose almost touching it as he peered up at it. “Who do you think this was of?”

“I don’t know.” Harry said, wishing that Draco would take the stupid cloak off and that they would leave. “They must have another painting somewhere else so they’re not home. Come on.”

“Whatever,” Draco said. “You go and look for the Nundu. I’m going to stay here.”

Harry cast him an odd look. Suddenly, a man stepped into the frame sharply. It started Harry; he jumped, stumbling back and landed on a dusty chest. The man in the portrait was severe looking, with white hair and dark eyes. He bore a striking resemblance to Lucius, only far more terrifying.

“Ah, my Draco. I haven’t seen you since you were a baby. My, how you have grown.” The man said. His voice was low, hissing like a snake.

Draco stepped back, worried looking. Harry felt frozen. The man titled his head, his blonde ponytail sliding across his shoulders.

“I sense confusion. You see, my grandson. I am your grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy.” the man in the painting said, his voice low like a hissing snake.

“Drake, we should go.” Harry said at once, feeling like he was going to throw up. “Dad doesn’t like it-”

“Who are you? You are surely not a Malfoy. Are you the illegitimate son of my son? Or perhaps my dear daughter-in-law had an affair. You surely look like you could be a Black.” Snapped the painting, his eyes fixing on Harry. Harry felt his forehead explode with pain. He dropped to his knees, groaning and clutching at his forehead.

“Oh my. You must be Harry Potter then. I can see your scar.” hissed the painting, sounding very interested. “What would you be doing in my house?”

“Harry is my brother.” Draco said, though he did not move to help Harry.

“Your brother? What do you mean?”

“I was adopted a month ago.” Harry cried, clutching his forehead.

“My son adopted you?” Abraxas hissed. “Why?”

“He was mum’s godson.” Draco said.

“You’re Narcissa’s Godson, are you?” Abraxas scoffed. Then then seemed to talk to himself, “Of course, I’m not surprised. She was always the soft one out of her lot. I’m not suprised to see that she stayed friends with the Potters.” Harry squeezed his eyes shut, pain ripping through his head. “No matter, she can be taken care of.”

“Drake, can we please go.” Harry cried. Draco finally seemed to notice that Harry was in pain. He unclasped the cloak and hurried to his brother’s side. Harry winced as Draco pulled him to his feet. Harry somehow managed to make it from the room. Draco remained, for only a moment.

They hurried down the hall, leaving the wing of the manor behind them. They stopped briefly in their rooms to change before hurrying to find their mother. She was in the parlor, absentmindedly flipping through Witch Weekly and sipping tea.

“Mum,” Harry cried, fully prepared to tell her about the painting they had met. She glanced up at them. “Guess what we found.”

“The Nundu,” Draco said at once. He gave Harry a look and Harry knew that he did not want her to know what they had found. Harry did not know why? Abraxas had hurt him, he was obviously evil. At the same time, he worried about telling his parents of his scar hurting. His aunt and uncle had made fun of it and all Harry wanted to do was forget about it entirely.

“A Nundu?” Narcissa said, smiling. She put the magazine down, peering at them over her cup. “Did you catch it? It would be horrible if one was loose around the manor?”

“Of course,” Draco said.

At that moment, the fireplace turned green and a voice cried, “You adopted and didn’t tell me?” A dark haired woman was stepping out into the parlor. She wore a simple cloak and her hair in a tight bun. She had curly hair and gentle eyes.

“Aunt Andy.” Draco cried, racing towards the woman. He jumped into her arms, hugging her tightly.

“Hello, Draco. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too. Is Dora here?” Draco said as the woman put in down on the ground. He looked around the woman to try and find something.

“No, she is at home.” Andromeda said. “Uncle Ted and she went to see Ireland play against France last night and they got back late. They’re sleeping.”

“Will she be coming over?” Draco asked. “I want her to meet Harry.”

“Harry?” Andromeda said, peering at Harry curiously. She looked at her sister in shock. “Merlin, Narcissa. Is that Harry Potter?” She sounded as if she couldn’t believe the words she was saying. Her face also seemed to feel the same way; She gazed at Harry with a shocked expression.

“Harry,” Narcissa said drily, “This is my sister, Andromeda Tonks.”

“Hello ma’am,” Harry said, somewhat uncertain. She was still looking at him as if he was a dragon playing the bagpipes.

“He looks just like James, only with Lily’s eyes.” Andromeda said, her jaw seeming to drop. Harry felt rather uncomfortable under her gaze.

“I am aware, Andy. He’s lived with me over a month now.” Narcissa said.

“A month?” This seemed to snap Andromeda out of her shock. “A whole month? You didn’t think that maybe you should inform your sister about this huge development in your life? Honestly, Narcissa, I am quite hurt.”

“I’m sorry.” Narcissa said. “I felt it was something you should find out in person.”

“You could have invited me over to dinner, at least. I had to find out through gossip that there were rumors that the Malfoys were spotted with another kid and supposedly adopted it.”

“I’m sorry you had to hear about this through gossip. But you were in America for the last two weeks -which I want to hear about- and I did not want to risk the letter behind lost in the overseas mail.” Narcissa said. “Besides, Ted’s been working all week and Dora was with her grandparents.”

“I thought Grandfather and Grandmother disowned you?” Draco said to his aunt. “Why would she go there?”

“She was at her father’s parents.” Andromeda told her nephew. “My parents would not even look at her.”

Harry felt bad for whoever Dora was. I understood what it was like to be hated by the two elder Blacks. Harry vaguely remembered Druella mentioned something about a disowned daughter at dinner when they had visited; this was obviously her.

“Why were you disowned?” Harry heard himself ask. This woman seemed perfectly nice and she didn’t seem like a crazy person. He was very curious as to why she had been shunned by her parents.

“Harry?” Narcissa cried, sounding mortified.

“Oh, hush, Cissa. It’s alright.” Andromeda hissed at her sister. She turned to Harry. “I chose to marry and muggleborn man, Ted Tonks. My parents did not like him for their beliefs in-”

“Blood purity, I know. I’ve met them.” Harry said.

“They found out before I did?” Andromeda cried.

“Apparently, Grandmother Blacks portrait is quite the tattle tail.” Narcissa frowned. “I’ve since had her portrait and the other untrustworthy Blacks removed.”

Andromeda turned to Harry and hugged him. This surprised Harry some, but he felt safe in her arms. “I am sorry, I should have introduced myself sooner. I’m Cissa’s sister, but you can call me Aunt Andy. I’m also Draco’s favorite aunt.”

“You’re my only aunt.” Draco drawled at her. Harry though he caught sight of something couldn't quite place flash in both sister’s eyes.

“Yes, but it looks like you’ll have competition to see which of you will be my favorite nephew now, won’t you?” Andromeda teased the blonde boy. Draco rolled his eyes at her.

“Andy, why don’t you came back for dinner tonight? I’m sure Lucius wants to hear all about the Quidditch match too. He whined for days when he found out he couldn’t go with them.”

“He was going to a Quidditch game without us?” Draco cried. “It would be Harry first game. He could finally meet Dora.”

“Hush, Draco. I’m sure you can go to the next one,” Narcissa said.

“Can we bring Dora then?” Draco asked, peering at at the two women.

“Draco, you know the rules-” Narcissa said.

“That rule is so stupid.” Draco whined. “I hate grandmother and grandfather. Why can’t they just grow up? Besides, they don’t even like Quidditch. Grandfather thought it was the Holyhead Hippies, not the Harpies. They would never find out.”

“Stop whining, young man.” Narcissa chided. “Maybe you can go to a match somewhere in France later this month.”

“The French team isn’t even good, mum. You’ve heard Dad and I talk about them. Their keeper fell off his broom last month.” Draco said. “Dora likes the Bulgarians, though. Could we go there?”

“We’ll see.” Andromeda was laughing. “I’ll see you all at dinner? Six?”

“That sounds perfect.” Narcissa said. She kissed her sister’s cheek. Andromeda then hugged both Draco and Harry before flooing home.

“So,” Harry said once she was gone. “Who’s Dora? Is she your girlfriend?”

Narcissa choked on her tea, spilling a great deal on the floor. She seemed to not notice for she was too busy laughing. Draco looked horrified.

“My girlfriend? Ew, no. That’s gross. She’s my cousin.” He seemed repulsed at the thought.

“Oh,” was all Harry said, feeling quite stupid. It made sense then to why Andromeda would talk about her so affectionately. Another thought occurred to him. “Why can’t you go the quidditch match with her if she’s your cousin?”

Narcissa set the teacup down, which now had contents spilled on the floor. She no longer seemed to be laughing. “Andromeda explained to you why she was disowned.” Narcissa said. “It makes my parents very upset to talk about her and it would make them more upset if they learned that I still talked to my sister.”

“That’s not fair.” Harry cried. “She’s your sister. Why wouldn't you not be able to see her? Is it all because of that stupid blood purity thing?” He couldn’t imagine not being able to see Draco again. He felt very bad for Narcissa and her sister for only being allowed to see each other in secret.

“It is not fair, you’re right.” Narcissa said. “Sadly, that’s the way things have to be for now. You cannot mention Andromeda or her family to anyone outside this family or when anyone else is here, do you understand?”

“Yes, mum.” Harry said rather miserably. He slunk off to his room for the remainder of the evening.

He must have fallen asleep because Draco was shaking him awake. He groaned, pushing his glasses on his face. Draco was grinning. “Come on. Everyone wants to meet you.”

Harry followed Draco to the parlor. A big bellied man with auburn hair stood talking to Lucius in the corner. A girl only a year or two older than Harry by the looks of it sat on the couch, bobbing her head back and forth. She had bright pink hair and freckles. Harry was sure she had to be adopted like him; She looked nothing like her parents. This had to be Dora.

“Dora, this is Harry.” Draco announced. The girl stood up and came over to him, smiling.

“You’re Harry Potter?” She asked, looking at him quizzically. Harry nodded. “Wicked.” She grinned, launching herself at him for a hug. She was a lot stronger than Harry had expected.

“Nymphadora, don’t crush the poor boy.” Andromeda called.

Dora pulled off of Harry, whipping around to face her mother. Her hair turned red. Harry yelped, jumping back. This girl was an odd one for sure.

“How many times have I asked you not to call me that?” She cried. “It’s such an ugly name. Honestly mother, I don’t know what you were thinking.” She turned to Harry. “Don’t call me that. I’m just Dora.”

“Err- Okay.” Harry said. Andromeda rolled her eyes at her daughter.

“I’d prefer if you’d be less sassy, young lady. Isn’t that right, Ted?”

“Don't look at me.” Said the auburn haired man, strolling over. “Sarcastic and sassy seem to be Black traits.” He bent down to speak with Harry, smiling kindly. “Hello, Harry. It seems I am your uncle now, Ted Tonks.”

“Hello, sir.” Harry said.

Ted chuckled, “There’s no need to be formal.”

“Okay sir...errr Uncle Ted.” Harry said. The man laughed and Harry decided he liked his new aunt, uncle and cousin much more than his old ones.

Harry turned to Dora, who’s hair slowly was returning to pink. “How did you do that?” He asked, flabbergasted.

“I'm a Metamorphmagus.” She said with a smile. “It means I can change my appearance whenever I want. I was born one.”

“Cool,” Harry was amazed. “I wish I could do that.”

“Can we go flying in the gardens until dinner?” Draco asked the four adults, clearly bored by Harry and Dora's conversation. The adults all nodded and the kids raced from the room.

Harry soon found that Dora was a good flyer, or at least she was more skilled at flying that walking. She had tripped over her own feet and face planted as they were running outside. It didn't matter though, she was nice and Harry liked her. She was lots of fun to fly around the gardens with. She helped him gang up on Draco and pelt him with apples from a nearby tree.

They were soon called to dinner. Harry and the others trudged inside, Dora behind the last one. They placed their training brooms in the chest in the mud room and hurried to the dining room. Ted and Lucius were already having an animated discussion about the Quidditch game Ted had attended.

“Anyways, that rookie- Moran- she was excellent. I think she played for Hufflepuff at Hogwarts.” Ted was saying. “She scored almost forty points.”

“Ah, did their seeker make any improvements? The Prophet seems to think that he should be retiring soon.” Lucius asked.

“Yeah,” Draco put in, “He needs to go.”

Harry had only recently started following Quidditch, so he was keen to hear what everyone had to say.

“He was alright.” Ted said. “I’m certain that he’ll be going into retirement soon. I’ve heard he’s thinking about becoming a coach.”

“Aidan Lynch might replace him, i’ve heard.” Dora said. Everyone seemed confused by this. “He plays for Ravenclaw as seeker. Apparently, the Irish have been scouting him.”

How do you know that?” Ted asked his daughter.

“Fred and George said their oldest brother, Bill -he’s a first year at Hogwarts- said so.” She replied, cutting into her meat. She nearly dropped her fork. Her knife nearly flew in Harry’s direction. Thankful, Ted stopped it with a flick of his wand.

“Since when did you believe anything those two told you?” He chuckled.

“Since I-”

She was cut off as Narcissa gave a loud shriek. None other than Baxter the peacock had come charging into the room, slamming into her chair with enough force to knock it over. The peacock was squawking angrily at her, grabbing a chunk of her hair in his beak and yanking on it.

“Baxter, NO!” Lucius cried, “We’ve been over this. NO ATTACKING NARCISSA!”

“Lucius, get your bloody -OW- bird off of -OW! That’s it.” Narcissa sent a jet of yellow light at the bird. It transformed at once into a teacup with a peacock pattern. She glared at the teacup. “I’ll change you back when you’ve learned your lesson.”

Harry, Draco and Andromeda were roaring with laughter. Ted looked stunned at what he had just seen. Lucius was looking at the teacup, horrified.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Cissa.” Dora said meekly. “I think I forgot to close the door all the way. He must have come inside.”

“It’s alright, Dora.” Narcissa said, settling the teacup on the windowsill behind her and smoothing her skirt off. “I’ve been wanted to do that for years.”

“You are going to change him back, dear?” Lucius asked, peering at the teacup rather worriedly.

“I’m sorry? Are you more worried about the fact that I changed your peacock into a teacup or that your wife almost got mauled by your stupid pet?” Narcissa snapped. Lucius, wisely, chose not to answer.

“Anyways,” Andromeda said, breaking the silence. Her sister and brother-in-law stopped glaring at one another, “I saw Mrs. O'connor today and….”

The rest of dinner went by smoothly. Harry spent the evening with the Tonkses and his family playing various games until the Tonkses left for home. Harry was thrilled to have met them. He was even more excited to attend his first Quidditch match, France vs Japan. Draco had complained that France was terrible, but Harry didn’t care.

Later that night, Harry came downstairs for a glass of water. As he was crossing the dining room, he caught sight of one of Baxter’s feathers lying beside his mother’s chair. He stopped suddenly, not sure why he had. He had the odd feeling that he had seen that feather before. He shook his head and moved on into the kitchen; it had been quite a day.  
\---------------------

\---------------------  
The day Narcissa and Lucius had dreaded had arrived. Someone had tipped Rita Skeeter off about Harry’s adoption. They had woken up the the sounds of Druella Black’s screaming. She had sent an express owl howler which screamed for twenty minutes about how she was afraid to show her face in public after such news about her family adopting a half blood had come out. The noise had not only startled the two parents, but sent Harry into a fit of tears and apologies when he heard the shouts down the hall. After calming him down, Draco was so angry he refused to eat.

When the family made it down to breakfast, there were hundreds of owls sitting on their table. Feathers were everywhere, as were their droppings. Two of the kitchen elves had burst into tears, unable to subdue them all. Narcissa and Lucius sent the two boys upstairs to have breakfast, placed a silencing charm on the room and let the howlers explode. They attempted to sort through the mail. Most of it was people asking for Harry’s autograph or to meet him. Some were threats and Lucius and Narcissa for taking Harry in; it was obvious that not everyone seemed to believe Lucius’s story about the imperius curse given both of their family histories.

By the time Frodo had managed to reach his owners, he looked seconds away from collapsing. He did, right in Lucius’s lap. Lucius had no choice to to order Dobby to take the bird and care for him as another howler exploded, screaming, “FILTHY DEATH EATERS. HOW DARE YOU?”

Narissa managed to wrangle out the Prophet and unrolled it to see the front page. A photo of Harry and Draco in Gringotts was right on the front page. They were standing inside Madam Malkin's, by the looks of it.

 **Harry Potter, “The Boy Who Lived” Found and Adopted by Malfoy Family!**  
**By: Rita Skeeter, an attractive witch**  
**Harry James Potter, the son of famous wizards James and Lily Potter vanished from the wizarding world on Halloween, 1981. This was shortly after he survived the killing curse set upon him by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harry, only just a baby, became the first person to survive the killing curse. But of course, we all know the story.**  
**Harry Potter vanished for the wizarding world for the next four years. There were rumors that he was being raised by gruesome hags in Russia or that he had been taking over to Spain to be raised by a clan of vampires there.**  
**Whether the claims are true or not, I do know that Harry Potter was found by his godmother, Narcissa Malfoy, and adopted close to four weeks ago. This was indeed confirmed by the Goblins at Gringotts and Mary Roswell, an employee in the Department of Magical Families.**  
**“Oh, yes. The Malfoys brought in little Harry to adopt. He was so cute and small. He seemed to look up to the great Lucius Malfoy with such admiration. Lucius will raise him well. Not so sure about his wife; she looked as if she thought we were nothing but dung under her shoe.” says Rosewell, a pinched face red haired girl.**  
**The Wizarding community was shocked to learn that Harry Potter is back. Many people seem thrilled that the boy hero is back.**  
**“Isn’t it wonderful. Our hero has returned.” Cried Dedalus Diggle, an old man who looks like a egg. “We are saved.” I was not quite sure what we were being saved from. Someone should tell him the war is over.**  
**There seems to be differing opinions about Harry’s new parents. Lucius Malfoy had been charged with bng a Death Eater but was cleared of all charges. However, his wife’s cousin and sister are both currently is Azkaban for horrible crimes against the community under You-Know-Who’s orders.**  
**“I, for one, was shocked to learn that Harry Potter of all people had been adopted by the Malfoys. After all, The Malfoys were big supporters of Who-Know-Who.” Says Arnold Weasel, a fellow Ministry Employee of Lucius Malfoy.**  
**“I was not surprised to learn at this,” Says Bertha Shotkins, who attended Hogwarts at the same time as the Malfoys. “Narcissa and Lucius were always friends with the Potters in school.”**  
**It seems that there are very different public opinions regarding Harry’s new Guardians and their loyalties.**  
**I, for one, made sure to do my research on the Malfoys. Lucius is the current head of The Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He seems to be mostly liked and has done his job in keeping our community safe. Narcissa spends much of her time with charity work at places like Saint Mungo’s or raising the couple’s son, Dracula.**  
**So, the question remains. Will Harry Potter be safe with his new family? Or will he fall into grave danger.**  
**For more on Harry Potter and his new guardians, see Page 8C.**

Narcisa put the newspaper down in horror. Rita Skeeter was a terrible and completely un-credible writer, but she couldn’t help but feel attacked. Harry was her son and yet Rita seemed to give her readers a sense that Narcissa’s family out too dangerous for Harry to live with. Rita had caused this avalanche of letters to arrive, of obsessed witches and wizards now harassing her Harry. Now, here she was was getting death threats over simply loving her godson. Oh, Narcissa would be having a nice little chat with her, all right.

Lucius was laughing at the paper, which irritated Narcissa. While he had seemed rather upset to see the article at first, he now seemed to find it rather comical.

“This isn’t funny, Lucius! Why are you laughing?” She snapped. Lucius turned to face her, still grinning.

“She thinks Draco’s name is Dracula. That’s incredible.”

“You have got to be kidding me?” She shouted, throwing the paper at him. This sent many of the owls currently sitting around the room into flight. Their flapping scattered more letters. “Skeeter writes another one of her terrible articles about us and you’re here, laughing about the fact that the idiot thought we named our son after a bloody vampire. You should know by now that she never gets any names right.”

“Mistress, Master,” Peesy appeared in the doorway, looking horrified. She spotted her usually immaculate looking masters sitting on the floor, covered in owl feathers with letters around the room.

“What is it, Peesy?” Narcisa cried, swatting away a bird.

“There are several reporters outside the gate. They want to speak with you and Master Harry.” Peesy said, ducking as an owl swooped overhead. “Also, there is a man here to speak with yous.”

“It seems I’ve come at a bad time.” Albus Dumbledore stood in the doorway. He was tall man with a long silvery beard. He wore half moon spectacles over his blue eyes, which sat upon his crooked nose. He peered down at the two Malfoys rather curiously.

“Professor,” Lucius said as the pair scrambled to their feet.

“I see that the world has found out about Harry’s adoption.” said Dumbledore, peeking around at the hundreds of letters scattered across the room.

“You could say that,” Lucius replied, “How may we help you?”

“I wish to speak with you regarding Harry’s safety.” said Dumbledore. “I am not here to take him away from you. I see that you are both quite caring and loving towards him. You see, James and Lily had informed me that they had asked you, Narcissa, to be the boy’s godmother. Once they were had been killed, I felt there was no choice but to put Harry with his aunt and uncle. I am very glad you rescued him when you did, my dear. They were far worse than I could have imagined and I am deeply sorry for that. I know you both will not harm Harry but I am worried about your...friends, I suppose.”

“I understand,” Lucius said, “Narcissa and I have devised a plan to assure Harry’s safety around them.” Dumbledore nodded and Lucius explained what it was. Dumbledore nodded, looking rather glum despite himself.

“I anticipated this. Yes, I understand why you must do that and I trust you to not follow through.” He said. “I would like to place some special enchantments around the house to assure he will be safe here.”

“Please, by all means,” Narcissa said. “We appreciate your understanding and aid,” She paused, thinking back to the letter she had received years ago.

“You said you placed Harry with his muggle relatives,” She said slowly. “Why?”

“Sirius was unable to care for him and I was worried that he would get into you some trouble should he stay with you. I do see, now, that I was wrong about that.”

“Did you send me a letter, Professor, instructing me not to look for Harry?” Narcissa asked, her eyes like ice. She liked the Headmaster and respected him but she would not stand for someone keeping her from her son.

“Certainly not, Narcissa!” Dumbledore said, shocked. “Did someone else learn of his location as a baby?”

“It appears that way,” Narcissa explained, summoning the letter with a wave of her wand. She handed the letter to the old wizard with a sigh. Dumbledore took and it read it, his face growing concerned.

“This appears most troubling. I will be sure to place extra protection spells around the home.” He said, tucking the letter in his pocket. “Do you mind if I take this? I am very curious about who sent this to you.”

“Please, by all means,” Narcissa replied. Dumbledore gave her a small bow and left to begin place spells around their home. Lucius dressed and went to fend of the reporters and crowds of people outside. Due to his charm, he was easily able to convince them of Harry's well being and sent them on their way. Harry himself even proudly told the reporters of how he was happy to be living with the Malfoys. Many articles followed them in news for weeks regarding Harry’s return. Like all news, it slowly faded away in light of a recent Quidditch scandal and a divorce between the drummer of the Weird Sisters Band and his longtime wife.

Much to Lucius’s surprise, those in the Sacred 28 seemed to accept the Malfoy’s reasoning for adopting Harry. To his immense relief, none of them wanted to be around Harry seeing that he was half blood and would prefer that he not be seen at their gatherings. While something nagged at Lucius that not everyone (mostly Yaxley) was happy about Harry being his son, Harry was. That was all that mattered to Lucius anyways.

Slowly, the months slipped by into years and their family bond grew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos and reviews to let me know how I’m doing! I appreciate you all :)


	4. Rats and Death Eater Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! This chapter really got me thinking. I really wanted to introduce Sirius into the story as soon as possible and I felt that this would be a good way to do it. We also all know that the Philosopher's Stone was locked away in Gringotts, but what if it wasn't originally there? Where was it and how did it come to arrive at Gringotts.

Ten year old Harry Potter-Malfoy stretched and blinked as the bright morning sun shone into his bedroom. Sighing, he climbed from the bed, peeling off his pajamas and tossing them to the floor. Dobby would get them later.

He wandered into his bathroom. He brushed his hair and teeth and washed his face. He then pulled on the clothes Dobby had set out the night before. Now sporting a pair of grey slacks and a red shirt, he thought he looked rather dashing. He loved that he could see the smile on his face every morning now. That was something that never happened at the Dursleys.

Harry’s life had been nothing but wonderful for the past five years. He finally had a family who loved him; a handsome and powerful father, caring and beautiful mother, and a best friend in his brother. He even had Dobby, their funny looking house elf who Harry and Draco liked to play tricks on. The house he lived in was warm and inviting, filled with many exciting places. Harry loved the library, a place where he could read until he fell asleep and his father would carry him up to bed. His most favorite place was still the huge garden in the backyard. He loved to spend his afternoons flying there with Draco and sometimes his father.

Harry wasn’t the biggest fan of the Sacred 28, however. They all clearly disliked Harry for being halfblood and causing the downfall of Lord Voldemort. Harry had noticed that they all seemed to support the ides of Blood Purity like Voldemort had. Fortunately, they seemed too scared of Lucius to bother Harry and left him alone. That didn’t mean that Harry felt safe around them. He was glad that the Malfoy’s rarely attended gatherings with all of them and he was scarily required to attend.

He slid down the grand staircase like he did every morning. He loved doing it; it almost gave him the sensation of flying. He landed with a thud on the perfectly glossed floors, dusting himself off. He wandered down the hall to enter the breakfast room. His father, seated at the head of the table was busy reading some letters which sat in a pile beside his plate. His mother sat at the other end, reading her own letters _._ Draco was shoveling food down his throat.

“Good morning, Dad, Mum, Draco.”

Lucius nodded a greeting at the boy before returning to his letter. Draco bid him good morning, or at least that’s what Harry thought. His mouth was so full it was hard to make out any words that left it.

“Good morning, darling. How did you sleep?” Narcissa asked him, studying him over the top of a letter as she sipped her coffee.

“I slept well, mum.” Harry replied, sitting down in his seat across from Draco. There was loud crack as Dobby appeared. The elf sat a large supply of eggs and bacon in front of Harry before vanishing with another crack.

“That’s wonderful.” Narcissa smiled, setting her coffee down. She turned to address her two sons. “There are lessons for both of you waiting in the parlor. You’re going to be focusing on the History of the First Goblin Rebellion.”

“But that’s so boring!” Draco exclaimed, spitting bits of his breakfast across the table. Harry had to hold his arms up to shield himself from the eggs.

“Draco! Do not speak with your mouth full! We’ve been over this.” Lucius said forcefully. “Now, you both will complete your lesson today...no matter how boring it might be.”

“Lucius!”

“Oh please, don’t act like you don’t think it’s boring too, Cissa.”

Harry and Draco both laughed at their father, who was cowering slightly under his wife’s intense gaze. She fixed the look on her two sons and they stopped laughing instantly. The three boys returned to eating, trying to ignore the displeased expression on Narcissa’s face.

“Maybe after I return from work today, we can go to Diagon Alley and buy you boys a new set of broomcare kits. I’ve noticed that the current brooms are looking somewhat dull.” Lucius said, taking a bite of toast.

“Oh yes!” Harry felt a grin form on his face. “I’d love that. Besides, the brooms could really use it. They’re all dirty from the rainstorm last week and then Crabbe and Goyle tried to ride them when they, unfortunately, had to come here. They don’t even fly right anymore.”

“Well, they more like hovered on them,” Harry said with a shrug.

“Hovered is being too kind,” Scoffed Draco. “Greg flew into a tree and Vincent hit the ground more times than I can count.”

“So new broomstick repair kits it is,” Lucius chuckled.

“Could we stop at Gringotts?” Draco asked, excitement in his eyes. “I want to see the dragon.”

“Ohhh, I like the dragon.” Harry chimed in. “Can we see him, Dad?”

“I suppose we can.” Lucius said, “It is only if you both agree to try the bubblegum flavored ice cream at Fortescue's. I’m telling you, it’s the best.” Both boys looked downtrodden at this.

“It doesn’t even smell good.” Draco rolled his eyes.

“Well, maybe another day,” Harry said slowly, looking unhappy with the idea of trying the bright pink ice cream.

There was a loud screech as a majestic brown owl, Artemis (Frodo had died a year ago), came swooping in. It landed gracefully beside Narcissa and stuck out its leg, which contained the _Daily Prophet._ Narcissa busied herself with untying it while Draco fed the owl some of his bacon.

“When are Harry and I going to be old enough to have our own owls, Dad?” Draco asked, looking up at his father. Lucius sighed and put his drink down; this was a daily conversation.

“Like your mother and I have told you, Draco. Not until you are-”

_Crash_

All three boys jumped at the sudden sound. Narcissa’s coffee cup had fallen from her hands and shattered on the floor. The dark murky liquid had already begun to stain the carpet beneath the table. Narcissa seemed to not notice. She was staring at the cover of the _Prophet_ with a look of utter disbelief.

“Mum?” Both boys asked together.

“Cissa?” Lucius rose quickly, looking at his wife in concern. “What’s the matter? What happened?”

Lucius’s voice seemed to snap Narcissa out of her trance. She looked up at her husband, her lip quivering some.

“They tried to escape.” She whispered, sounding as if she didn't believe it herself. “They almost broke out, Lucius.”

“Who almost broke out of what?” Draco piped up. Lucius moved so that he could read the front cover of the _Prophet_ over his wife’s shoulder. His eyes widened as he read the words. His lips grew very tight, something he only did when he was concerned. He gripped his wife’s shoulder, looking as if he might fall over.

Both Harry and Draco were confused by this. Very rarely had they seen their parents looked so concerned about something. They had most certainly never seen their mother turn that pale before. She looked as if she would faint at any moment.

“How did they do it?” Lucius muttered, his eyes not leaving the paper as he leaned closer to it. The two adults’ eyes were moving quickly as they read the article, their expressions becoming more and more fearful.

“He attacked the guards?” Narcissa said shrilly, her eyes widening as she read. “With what? I thought he was dead?”

“Who attacked who? What’s going on?” Harry cried, wishing to be filled in on what was happening.

Both adults looked up, having clearly forgotten that their sons were still present. They glanced at each other slowly, seeming to have a silent conversation. Slowly, Narcissa sat the paper down on the table, her expression unchanging. Harry saw the pictures of four people on the front; three men and one woman. One man was young looking, with a sunken in face and expression of deadness in his eyes. The other two men were very scraggly looking, with long raggedy beards and missing teeth. It was clear that the two were brothers; they had the same facial features. The woman had a shallow looking face, heavy-lidded eyes, and wild, curly hair. They all were in chains, wearing striped prison outfits. Each of them was shouting, lunging towards the camera. They all looked like a rabid animal, waiting to tear into its victim.

The front page bore the words “ _**Four Death Eaters Nearly Escape! Peter Pettigrew NOT dead!** ” _Below that was a subtitle warning people of the dangers these people posed.

Harry had only heard of Death Eaters a few times. His father and Uncle Ted had been speaking in quiet tones about them. They both looked horrified when they realized Harry had overheard them. That night, his father had sat him down and told him, in full of details as he could muster, about an evil dark wizard and his followers, The Death Eaters. He told Harry that the dark wizards had done horrible, unspeakable things. Harry, having heard the story, was surprised by how shaken his father had seemed.

“If Death Eaters escaped, did that mean the Dark Lord will come back too?” Harry asked. Lucius nearly collapsed at this question, gripping onto Narcissa’s chair for support. Harry was sure that Narcissa would have shattered another cup, had she’d been holding one.

“No,” Lucius somehow managed to get out. “No, he won’t.” He didn't sound so certain. There was a look of fear in his eyes. Neither Harry nor Draco had even seen their father looked scared before. This frightened them more than the news of the escaped Death Eaters.

“I’ve got to go to work. I have no idea why the hell nobody informed me of this yet.” He said urgently. “I don’t know what time I’ll be back.” He swiftly bent down to gently kiss his wife, giving her hand and reassuring squeeze before hugging his sons. He then dashed out the room. There was the sound of a floo roaring before the house fell silent.

Draco and Harry looked to each other, concern across both their faces. Neither of them could understand why their parents were so upset. Lucius had said the Dark Lord wouldn’t be returning, so why was this a big deal? It was just some crazy looking people who didn’t even escape.

“Mum? Are you alright?” Draco hesitantly reached out to touch his mother’s arm. She had been previously staring at the wall, looking quite lost.

Narcissa seemed to snap out of whatever she was feeling. She gave a small smile to her son. “Yes, dear, I’m alright. DOBBY!” there was a loud crack as the elf appeared. “Clean up this mess.”

“Yes, mistress.” The elf said, beginning to busy itself.

 “Boys, come along. You both have history lessons to attend to.” Narcissa stood up, brushing off her dress. The tone in her voice left no room for arguments. 

Draco and Harry trudged into the parlor, feeling rather upset about the boringness they were about to endure. They sat down at the table and picked up the parchment. Several questions were written on the parchment, each leaving space for them to write their answer.

Nearly an hour later, Harry only had three of the twenty questions done. No matter what he tried, he could not focus. He wasn’t sure if it was because the material was so boring and he could care less, or because his mind kept wandering to the nearly escaped Death Eaters and how they had shaken up his parents so much. 

“Why is it such a big deal that those Death Eaters tried to escape?” Harry asked Draco. Draco looked up from the book he was using or more likely staring at judging from his glazed over eyes. His brother looked at him very seriously.

“No one has ever escaped Azkaban before,” Draco said. “Nobody even thinks about trying. So if these four nearly escaped, that’s really bad. Dad’s going to have to fix it.”

Harry hadn't thought of that. It sent shivers up his spine.

 “You don’t think they’d hurt us do you if they escaped? Because of Dad’s job?”

 “Us? No, they’d be stupid to not be scared of Dad. Malfoy's are far too powerful. He’d kick their butts in a duel, anyways.” Draco said. This did make Harry feel slightly better.

“Are you done yet?” A voice asked. Their mother stood in the doorway, her face still incredibly pale. Her hair, usually not a strand out of place, was frizzing.

Both Draco and Harry looked down at their papers guilty. They usually were done with history of magic assignments quickly but today they hadn’t even completed five questions.

“Err, no Mum. Not yet.” Draco said. They both expected their mother to frown at them for she liked when they finished quickly. Neither of them wanted to show her the combined total of five questions, knowing she would soon ask to see it. Instead, she only nodded and vanished from the doorway. Draco and Harry shook their heads. The news had really shaken their parents up.

 It took the two boys nearly another hour and a half to finish their assignment. Towards the end, they had started to make some stuff up, hoping it would sound believable. They found their mother in the sitting room, staring into the roaring fire. She had wrapped herself in a heavy blanket despite the intense heat the fire was giving off.

 “We finished,” Harry said. They both produced their parchment to their mother. She took it with a small smile before setting in on the couch beside her. Harry and Draco held out their hands, expecting a second assignment like usual.

“There is no second assignment today,” Narcissa said simply.

 Draco and Harry grinned. This had never happened before.

 “Can we go outside and fly?” Harry asked.

 “What? No!” That had clearly not had been the question to ask, for it seemed to give their mother a heart attack.

 “Why not? It’s not _that_ cold out? Those Death Eaters didn’t even escape.” Draco complained. Narcissa jumped. 

“I said ‘no’, Draco. Did you not hear me?” Narcissa barked, her eyes narrowing at the blonde boy. “Now, both of you go upstairs and play.”

The pair turned and trudged up to their rooms. Neither spoke as they walked, both annoyed some that their mother wouldn't let them play outside like she usually did. Draco left for his room without a word to Harry while Harry marched to his room. He threw himself onto the bed. He laid there for several minutes, his mind racing. 

Who were those people and why did they scare Mum and Dad so much? How could they have almost broken out of Azkaban when it was impossible. Would they hurt people if they did manage to?

 His thoughts became blurred together and he finally collapsed into sleep. He dreamt he was flying high above the manor on his broom. Draco and his father were flying beside him. They all were laughing, happy, not a care in the world. Suddenly Dobby appeared, flying on a much smaller broom. Peesy was also on a miniature broom. They were playing quidditch against the elves and losing horribly.

Draco threw the Quaffle to Harry, who ducked under Peesy and threw the ball into the hoop. Draco high fived him before racing after Dobby, who held the quaffle. His father knocked Dobby away, taking the quaffle back when Peesy ran into him, retaking the quaffle. She ducked under Harry and tossed the Quaffle into the hoop.

“Harry?” someone was shaking him. Harry groggily opened his eyes. Draco was blinking down at him. Glancing outside, Harry saw it was starting to get dark. “Get up. Peesy says it's time for dinner.”

Harry hurried to brush his hair and adjust his glasses. He then followed Draco down to the quiet dinner he had ever had. Normally, dinner was lively as Draco and Harry told Lucius about what they learned that day. Lucius would, in turn, tell them about his day at the ministry and how he dealt with the issues he was faced with. Today, it was very quiet.

 Lucius was still at work, leaving the three other Malfoys to dine alone. No one spoke. Draco pushed his food around, not eating much. Harry ate some, but spent most of the dinner flicking his food across his plate. Narcissa did not once touch her fork, instead jumping at the slightest noise. The house elves, sensing the lack of enthusiasm, cleaned up their meals early.

Harry and Draco spent the rest of the evening wandering around the manor, terrorizing portraits of Lucius’s late family. The portraits, themselves, seemed worried. They did not angrily shout at them like they usually did when one of the boys threw things at them.

Fed up, Harry and Draco sought out Dobby. The little elf appeared with a crack. “Hello, young masters.”

“Hi,” Harry said to the elf. “Listen, Dobby, we need to you to find a copy of the _Prophet_ from this morning.” Dobby looked reproachful but did as he was told. He reappeared a moment later, holding a crumpled newspaper. Harry and Draco took it, saying words of thanks as they did so. Dobby vanished.

**Four Death Eaters Nearly Escape! Peter Pettigrew NOT dead**

**By: R. Almeida**

**Terror strikes the hearts of all us as the news of a near break-in occurred late last night in Azkaban. A one Peter Pettigrew was a member of the responsible party. This is the same Peter Pettigrew thought to have been killed by Sirius Black on the attack following the deaths of James and Lily Potter. Pettigrew turned out to be an unregistered animagus, a rat to be exact. He was able to slip into Animagus in his rat form; Dementors cannot sense the feelings of animals or distinguish from real animals and animaguses. Peter was able to steal the keys to four Death Eater’s cells. Pettigrew was only caught when he returned to human form when he was to insert the key into the cell. He clearly became affected by the dementor and collapsed.**

**Pettigrew collapsed outside the cell of Rodolphus Lestrange, one of You-Know-Who’s inner circle who was sentenced for the crimes he committed against ex-Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom. Lestrange was able to use the key dropped by Pettigrew to free himself, as well as his brother, Rabastan Lestrange; his wife, Bellatrix Black Lestrange; and Barty Crouch Jr., son of the once popular, Barty Crouch.**

**Fortunately, none of these Death Eaters had wands. They had only made it a few levels down when dementors and wizard guards reached them. There was a brief struggle, in which Bellatrix Lestrange got hold of a wand and blasted a huge hole in the ceiling, killing the inmate who lived above them, Jacob Mulciber.**

**All of the Death Eaters were returned to their cells and security has been tightened. Peter Pettigrew will stand trial by Veritaserum tomorrow morning.**

**There has been no word from the Department of International Law Enforcement. There are speculations that the department head, Lucius Malfoy, was not aware of the situation. Others speculate that he will not crack down on charging the Death Eaters due to his relation to the Lestranges. Malfoy’s wife is the sister of Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange. It seems that Malfoy is either incompetent or a supporter of the Death Eaters, himself/**

**We can only hope as a community that the security problems will be fixed for the sake of our community.**

**For more on the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's stand on former Death Eaters, see page 8A.**

 Harry was stunned and furious. He was shocked, to begin, to learn that the maniacal looking woman in the photo above was his mother’s sister. Harry had no idea that she had another sister. He was also furious at the remarks made about his father not doing anything to keep them safe because he was helping Bellatrix.

“That’s mum’s sister?” Draco said quietly, looking at the heavy-lidded woman in the photo. She sneered up at them. “I never even knew she and Aunt Andy had another sister.”

“I think they don’t talk about her for good reason,” Harry said, growing down at the woman who was supposedly his aunt. She let loose a horrible cackle, her eyes rolling back in their sockets.

“Should we ask her about it?” Draco said quietly.

“No,” Harry said. “I think the reason we’ve never known she existed was that mum wants to forget about her. I don’t think it's fair for us to accuse her of hiding this from us. She could be ashamed by her. This woman was a death eater.”

“Then how could the paper accuse Dad of practically helping them? They’ve made his entire department looking like a bloody mess.” Draco spat suddenly. “It’s not fair.”

The two boys sat in brooding silence, watching as their aunt glared up at them. Finally, Draco crumbled up the paper and slammed it into the nearest trash can. He began to pace back and forth like he did when he was angry. Harry leaned back, sitting against the wall. He felt emotionally drained now.

There was a loud crack and Peesy appeared. Tea was ready.

The two boys joined their mother in the parlor for evening tea. Much like breakfast, Narcissa did not touch anything. She stared into the fire, her eyes looking very conflicted. Draco and Harry spoke in low tones about Quidditch, or really anything to take their minds off of their father’s apparent absence. Their mother hardly acknowledged that they were there.

Harry’s eyes fell to the fire, watching as the bright orange flames danced about. Through the magical logs, Harry could see what looked like hundreds of letters burning in the flames. The envelopes curled with the flames, falling to meet the ashes below.

The fireplace roared to life in a magnificent display of green flames. A moment later, an exhausted-looking Lucius Malfoy all but fell out of the fire. He had dark circles under his eyes and his skin seemed almost grey.

“Dad!” both his sons cried, racing towards him to hug. Harry was relieved to see his father, having started to worry that something happened to him. Lucius was fine, hugging his sons tightly. Both Harry and Draco pulled back in alarm; their father’s skin seemed cold as ice.

Lucius sighed, having seen the look of panic in his son's’ eyes as he released them. “I went to Azkaban today,” he said in way of explanation. “I wanted to personally make sure the new security measures were in place.”

Narcissa rose to her feet, throwing her arms around her husband. Lucius clung right back, pressing his face into the crook of her neck. They both stood there for a long while they clung to one another as if their lives depended on it. Finally, Narcissa pulled away as the husband and wife sat beside one another on the couch. Harry and Draco took seats across from them.

“Thankfully, Kingsley was already taking the point in the office when I arrived. He said he sent me several letters, as well as a Patronus. They were all intercepted -we found the owls all injured- which is why I did not receive news. Apparently, the papers seemed to take that as something entirely else.” He sighed tiredly. “I’ve been to figure out who intercepted them, as well as learning the detailed an escape plan that the death eaters formed in order to escape,” Lucius said calmly to his even more panic-stricken looking wife. “I suppose Pettigrew will tell us all the rest in the morning. I’ve assigned several Aurors to him to prevent him from escaping. I had to make sure all of our security measures were in the proper place again and install new ones.”

“But what about those...things...that are there?” Narcissa cried. All three boys could see her distress levels had risen considerably in the last few moments.

Lucius grabbed hold of her arms, staring her in the eyes. “I am fine, Narcissa. I will be okay, love, I had a patronus on them the whole time.” This seemed to calm Narcissa down, as she wrapped her husband in a tight embrace again, shaking some. Lucius clung to her just as tightly, gently stroking her back and speaking softly in her ear.

This was a slightly odd sight, thought Harry. Of course, he knew his parents loved each other deeply from the way the acted around each other. It wasn’t very often that they so clearly showed their emotions so physically.

“Promise me that you won’t go to Azkaban without telling me first,” Narcissa said softly. “I hate it when you do things like that,”

“I promise,” Lucius said but it wasn't very convincing.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Narcissa raised an eyebrow. When Lucius said nothing, her expression became more pained. She seemed to cling to his arm like a lifeline. “Lucius, darling, tell me.”

“It’s about her,” Lucius said. Harry and Draco looked at each other nervously. “Boys, maybe you-”.

“We read the article,” Harry said. “We know what it said.”

“Then you know about Bellatrix, I would imagine,” Narcissa said weakly. Both boys nodded, avoiding her eyes. “Well, you were bound to find out eventually,” she muttered to herself before turning to her sons. “Bellatrix was indeed my eldest sister. She was always a bit intense and very much some a believer of blood purity, but she was my sister, nonetheless. I loved her despite her flaws. She was always someone who stuck up for me as a kid. She was so different before she left for school; she was happy and always smiling. Then she went away to school in her fifth year and came back colder and more ruthless. She rarely spoke to Andy and me, refusing to play with us. Andy says that’s when she really got caught up with...with him. That’s when he started to make his rise. Bella became infatuated with the Dark Lord as he rose to power. I thought it was just a phase, that she would maybe grow out of it.”

Narcissa stopped talking, looking down at the _Prophet_ that sat on the table beside her. Bellatrix sneered up at her, baring her teeth.

“After Andy left, Bellatrix did not seem upset by the loss of her sister. She began to leave the home for days on end; she was never at the Lestrange Manor when I called on her. I became more worried about her, watching as she slipped into a state of insanity.  By the time the war broke out, the woman I called my sister became no more. She became completed consumed by The Dark Lord’s ways and….became a fanatic. There were things that I know she did that I never wish to speak about.”

“Why did you never tell us about her?” Draco asked softly.

“It was- is- painful to think about her. She was my sister, someone who I loved, who destroyed herself for the sake of blood purity and that horrid madman. I knew I was never going to get her back, not the sister I loved at least. I just wanted to forget about her; it was easiest that way,” Narcissa’s voice was very quiet. Tears threatened to roll down her face.

“I’m sorry.” Both Harry and Draco said. Harry felt quite bad for her; she had one sister who she could only see in secret and one who was a shell of her former self

“Is Azkaban secure?” Narcissa asked, turning to her husband. Clearly, she no longer wished to speak about Bellatrix.

“Safer and more secure,” Lucius replied. “All we have to do is wait for the trial in the morning. It will be held by the full Wizamont.”

An owl came swooping, dropping a letter in Narcissa’s lap. Narcissa gingerly picked it up as the owl vanished from the room. She screamed suddenly, throwing the letter across the room. A purple ooze seemed to be emitted from the letter at her touch. She struggled to wipe it off, finding that it instead began to eat at the flesh on her fingers.

“DOBBY,” Lucius roared, “Get me some Dittany.” He grabbed hold of his wife’s hands, watching in horror as the ooze seemed to corrode at her hands. Narcissa struggled to pull herself from his grasp, obviously in a great deal of pain. The corrosion worked its way but to her elbows now. The scent of burning flesh filled the air. Harry felt sick. He forced himself to look elsewhere.

The elf returned with a bottle of Dittany, which Lucius began to pour onto Narcissa’s arms. There was a soft hissing sound and slowly, the skin on her arms returned to normal. Both Harry and Draco were frozen; their mother could have easily disintegrated right before them.

“Cis?” Lucius said, brushing a blonde lock from his wife’s face. “Darling, look at me.” Narcissa turned, her eyes swimming. Her body seemed to shake before she was furious hugging him again. Lucius gently stroked her back, kissing the top of her head.

“Dobby,” Draco said quietly. The elf appeared but no one else but Harry seemed to him. “Put that letter in something for father to take with him without hurting himself. Don’t touch the ooze.” The elf gave a bow and left, taking the letter with him.

“Thank you, Draco,” Lucius said, looking at him over Narcissa’s shoulder. Draco only nodded, watching his mother in concern. Harry’s heart was still pounding. Someone had tried to kill his beloved godmother/mother. It was clear it was because they were angry with Bellatrix or Lucius and had chosen to take their anger out on Narcissa. This made Harry’s blood boil. It wasn’t her fault. How dare they try and hurt her?

“You are going to find whoever sent that, right Father?” Draco asked. Lucius looked at him, confused. “You have to find out who nearly killed Mum.” Draco used a tone of firmness.

“It wouldn’t have killed her, thankfully,” Lucius said, kissing the top of Narcissa’s head. She was still silently shaking, her face buried in Lucius’ cloak. “It would have just badly hurt her.”

“But-” Draco seemed outraged with his father’s words.

“It’s alright, Draco,” Narcissa said, turning to face him. “If your father went through all of the letters which arrived today, we’d here for weeks.”

“More people sent your letters?” Draco sounded horrified.

“Yes, sweetheart. People are angry, Draco. They need someone to take it out on.” Narcissa said, sounding resigned. She looked slightly frazzled, but Harry was surprised she did not look more upset over nearly dying moments ago.l

“It doesn’t have to be on you!” Draco cried, shaking some. He looked paler than usual. Narcissa removed her husband’s arm from her waist and hugged her sons tightly.

“It’s alright, Draco. I’m okay, we’re all going to be okay.” She said. “We will just have to see how tomorrow's trial goes.”

\-----------------

“Peter Pettigrew, born to a Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Pettigrew on September 3, 1959. Is this correct, Mr. Pettigrew?” The voice of Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, rang across the high ceilinged courtroom. The entire Wizamont was there, staring down at the dirty, rat-faced man.

Lucius, from his seat beside the minister, marveled at the sight. Peter looked no different than he had when Lucius and he went to school together. He was still a plump man, with chubby cheeks and large front teeth. His lip still quivered pathetically like it did whenever he was threatened. It seemed that Peter had not changed.

“That is correct,” Pettigrew said, his voice still quite high pitched for a man in his early forties.

“Mr. Pettigrew, you have been sentenced with conspiring with Death Eaters and attempting to help them escape. How do you plead?” Fudge asked.

“Err, not guilty, sir,” Pettigrew said. There was a scoffing sound that echoed from several members of the court. Lucius fought the urge to roll his eyes. Pettigrew had always been pathetic in his opinion. He had no idea why James and Sirius had insisted on keeping him around.  

“Mr. Pettigrew, you will be given Veritaserum and allow us to answer our questions fully, is that clear?” Fudge said. Pettigrew's eyes bugged from his head.

“No, I will tell the truth regardless. That- That won’t be necessary.” Pettigrew began to shout. Lucius rolled his eyes and nodded to the Auror who held the Veritaserum. The Auror roughly shoved his head back and forced the potion down the screaming man’s mouth. He fell silent and a glassy look fell over his rat-like face.

“Are you Peter Pettigrew?” Asked Amelia Bones, the current head of the Witch Watchers. She leaned forwards, blinking her dark eyes at him.

“Yes,” He replied in a dreamy voice.

“How are you still alive?” She asked now. Lucius watched Amelia Bones closely; she looked very displeased by Pettigrew's presence.

“I am an unregistered animagus.” Replied Pettigrew. “It is a rat form. I have been living as a rat for nearly ten years now.”

Disgusting, Lucius thought. He, of course, had known of Pettigrew's form. He was also well aware of whom Pettigrew had learned to become one from, James Potter and Sirius Black. Lucius felt a pang of regret towards Sirius, his old friend. Lucius had never believed the idea that Sirius had been the one to betray the Potters and commit mass murder. He may have been a Black, but he was not an evil one. A thought struck him.

“You will not be killed by Sirius Black clearly,” Lucius said, his voice ringing over the whispering of those around him. “Did you frame him?”

“Yes, I did,” Pettigrew said. The court seemed to go into a quite uproar. People were freely whispering to one another; the muttering echoed loudly. Lucius ignored them.

“How? I want the whole story, from the beginning.” He asked loudly. The court fell silent, leaning in to hear what the man had to say.

“I joined the Order of The Phoenix after my graduation from Hogwarts. After a year, I became a spy for The Dark Lord, was giving the Dark Mark and accepted into the rank of Death Eater. I had wanted to power and it was clear that the order would not give me that. When the prophecy was made regarding a young boy who could bring the downfall of The Dark Lord, my old friends, The Potters, went into hiding. Sirius Black was supposed to be secret keeper, yet he seemed to think that is what everyone would expect him to be. Black convinced the Potters to switch being the secret keeper to me. I gave them up to The Dark Lord. Black had known what I had done and came after me in a rage, understandably angry. When he closed in on me, I screamed that Sirius had betrayed the Potters for everyone to hear, and before he could even draw his wand, I swiftly pulled out mine behind my back and then killed twelve Muggles by blowing up the street with a Blasting Curse. I then cut off my little finger so that everyone would think I was dead and transformed into my rat form.”

Lucius felt himself growing more angry with each word. His white knuckles were clenched in a fist so hard he had drawn blood. He gritted his teeth from an effort to remain silent, his shoulders shaking in rage. Lucius felt his hands twitch towards his wand; he wanted nothing more than to kill Pettigrew. Pettigrew had taken away his friends due to his cowardice. He had taken Harry’s father, mother, and Godfather from him.

“Lucius?” Bones was peering at him curiously. Lucius realized how angry he must have looked and he forced himself to settle. Malfoys did not show public emotion.

“How did you get in contact with the Death Eaters inside Azkaban?” Fudge asked, lifting his spectacles to peer at Pettigrew.

“We were able to feel the growing power of our Master through the Dark Mark. He has a plan for his return and he needed our help.” Pettigrew said. Lucius placed a hand on his forearm. He could feel the horrible mark that burned his skin through his shirt. He had felt nothing.

“He is still alive?” Amelia Bones said, sounding shocked. Barty Crouch looked as if he was going to throw up on the other side of Lucius.

“Barely, but yes.” Replied Pettigrew replied.

Panic seemed to erupt from every person present. There were several terrified cries. The room seemed to become rapidly colder. Lucius felt like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice cold water over him. Bones, beside him, turned white. Fudge's horrified gasp echoed in Lucius’s ears.

“Where is he? Your master?” Barty Crouch, a man with a handlebar mustache and cold eyes, spoke then.

“I do not know. He was calling for me to bring his most loyal servants.” Pettigrew said. “I wanted to bring him The Lestranges and Crouch Jr to show him how loyal and valuable I could be. I would become valued once again.” There was a sick tone in his voice and it made Lucius’s skin crawl.

“Does he plan to come back?” Crouch asked, standing now. His face was quite red with anger.

“Oh, yes. He wants to use the Elixir of Life to do it.” Replied Pettigrew. Whispers begin to fly again. “It makes him invincible.”

“Does he know were the Elix is?” Finally, Albus Dumbledore, who had been surprisingly quiet, spoke. Lucius peered over to the man with half-moon spectacles. Dumbledore had his gaze fixed on Pettigrew.

“He knows of its location due to an arithmetic code.” Replied Pettigrew. “He needed someone to fetch it for him and bring it to him.”

“Do you have those instructions?” Dumbledore asked.

“In my pocket.” Replied the rat-faced man. Kingsley Shacklebolt approached and took it from him gruffly. Slowly the rat man’s face returned from glassy to horrified.

“I have heard all I need to hear.” Fudge said. “All those in favor of a life Sentence in Azkaban?” Everyone raised their hand and Pettigrew began to scream.

“No, have mercy. I was forced to do it. I didn’t want to.”

“Silence,” Lucius had lost his temper. This man had done enough damage. Lucius cast a silencing charm on him. Then he turned to Fudge, “I suppose we will have to release and compensate Sirius Black for his false imprisonment.”

“Yes,” Fudge replied evenly, “We will. Case adjourned. Mr. Pettigrew, you will be taken to Azkaban immediately and remain there for the rest of your life. Sirius Black will be released from Azkaban immediately,”

The rat man screamed at them as he was hauled from the room by two waiting dementors. People began to file out on each side of him. Lucius remained frozen, watching as a man he once considered to be his friend being dragged away. Lucius could not feel anything but disgust towards him. Pettigrew had killed his friends and falsely imprisoned one of his closest.

“Lucius,” A voice said. Lucius turned and came face to face with a tall man with spectacle glasses. He had a worried expression on his face as he slowly ran his fingers through his long beard.

“Professor,” Lucius replied, grateful to see the man. The last of the members of the court were filling out. He was very pleased to see the old man. Dumbledore had been quite surprised to learn that Lucius and Narcissa had adopted Harry years ago. While he had been one of the few present to hear Lucius’s confession when he had been arrested on Death Eater charges and knew he was innocent. However, he did not like the idea of so many Death Eaters being close to Harry. After fully coming to understand that Narcissa and Lucius were not going to willingly allow anything to happen to Harry, he agreed to keep eye on the boy. Thankfully, his assistance and protection had not been needed...yet

“Lucius, I think it might be time to take up my offer,” Dumbledore said gently. Lucius felt his heart leap. It had been years ago that the old man had approached Lucius and Narcissa, not long after placing protection charms on their home, to discuss sending Harry to another’s home should anything worrisome come up. This would allow Harry to be safer, away from the dangers presented by the Death Eaters which could frequent the Malfoy home.

“I appreciate it, Professor. I do not wish to take Harry away from his brother or mother as of yet.”

“I do not want to take him away from his family, either.” The old wizard replied. “Both you and your wife have done a good job raising Harry, far better than his Aunt and Uncle had. I am worried about your association with the Circle.”

“We have always been careful of allowing Harry near the Circle. We have been fortunate that they have believed the lie we told.” Lucius said.

“Lucius,” said Dumbledore, “I know your wife and yourself have sworn to protect Harry no matter the cost.” There was a tone of suggestion in his voice.

Lucius knew what he was saying at once. “I understand, Professor. I would like to go home to discuss these events with her. I have no doubt that she will come to the same conclusion I have. We have to break off ties with them. Now that we know he is back, I don’t think we have much of a choice.”

“It will be dangerous,” Dumbledore replied. “If those within the Circle have all remained true to Voldemort, then this could mean danger for your family.”

“I am aware,” Lucius said. “I want to ask for protection for Harry...and Draco.”

“You will have it,” Dumbledore replied. “Now, I suspect you have something you would wish to discuss with your wife.”

Lucius nodded, peering down at the chair which had once held Pettigrew. Lucius felt his heart clench again. He would not let anything happen to Harry.

\----------------------------------------------

Narcissa sat on their bed, rocking back and forth as she muttered, “He’s alive,” to herself. Lucius stood against the wall, looking exhausted. He had just allowed Narcissa to use her Legilimency abilities to see what he had witnessed hours before. It was clear the news of the Dark Lord’s survival it had badly shaken her, like anyone who had been there had been.

Lucius sighed, unsure of how to comfort her at this moment when he himself was filled with nothing but worry and fear. He tugged off his robe, tossing in a chair in the corner and began to pace, listening to Narcissa’s sniffles.

“We have to do it.” Narcissa’s voice said quietly. Lucius stopped pacing, turning to face her. “We have to leave...for Harry’s sake.”

“I know,” Lucius said.

“We made a promise when we first adopted him that we would do whatever it takes. I am not going to allow anything to happen to my son.” Narcissa said, mostly to herself. “We’ve got to do it. We have to leave,"

Lucius stopped, feeling his heart pounding. “You’ll lose your parents and your rights to the Black vault.” He said.

“I don’t care, Lucius. My parents have been cold and distant since Andy left and we don’t need anything from the Black fortune. What we have are two sons who we have to protect from The Dark Lord.” Narissa had risen, her face determined. Fear still seemed to radiate in her eyes despite this.

“We need to tighten our wards,” Lucius replied. “And I want the support of Andy, Ted- and hopefully a freed Sirius- with this. I need to know that if something….something happens to us because we have turned our backs on him, that there will be somewhere safe for them to grow up at least”

Narcissa wrapped herself around him. Lucius could feel her shaking. She was clearly as worried about this as he was. The last person to leave the Sacred 28 had been Andromeda, who had suffered a great deal of harassment from them for nearly a year after she had left. That, of course, had been before the war and the rise of the Death Eaters. Lucius, as well as Narcissa, knew that his those in the Circle were feeling empowered by Lord Voldemort’s return, could decide to have the pair of them killed.

“We can talk with them when they come to dinner tomorrow,” Narcissa said, her face buried his Lucius’s chest. He could still hear her panicked breathing and knew she was still worried. Lucius felt her grip on his robes tighten. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“I love you, Cissa. I promise that I won’t let harm ever come to the boys or you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” He said, kissing her tear stained cheeks. “We just won’t go to the gathering tonight.” The circle was indeed gathering that evening, most likely to discuss the most recent development.

“And then we see if they want to kill us,” Narcissa said, her tone weak. She continued to hold him. “Lucius?”

“Yes, love,” Lucius asked, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Narcissa seemed to struggle with what to say. Finally, she sighed and leaned up to kiss him again. “I love you.”

“DAD?” The door came crashing open and Draco stood there. He yelped at the sight of his parents still locked in their embrace. His parents broke apart, their eyes wide and hearts racing. They both went reaching for their wands, a million terrible things running through their minds.

“Ew, that’s gross,” Draco said. He turned to his father. “Dad, France beat Ireland. Can you believe it?”

Lucius forced himself to smile. Tomorrow the news of the Dark Lord’s presence would hit papers and panic would erupt. For one last time, he wanted to have a night with his family without thinking of the Dark Lord.

\-----------------

The library of Parkinson manor was currently holding a meeting between several men in the pureblood circle. Each one of them was very angry and the tensions between them all were very high. Just by taking a look at each of them, a person could easily see that they were people who you should not mess with. The current topic of discussion was the Trial of Peter Pettigrew. 

“Pettigrew is a fucking idiot,” Yaxley snapped, slamming his glass of Firewhisky down, “What else more is there to say? He spent ten years as a damn rat, living in the sewers like a common Muggle.”

“He was supposed to be the one to get them out. That was the plan.” Rosier said, “I knew we should have sent someone else.”

“He was so eager to receive the message,” Scoffed Parkinson, a boulder looking man. “I could see him practically squirm with excitement when you sent him the message, Yaxley.”

“Now he’s gone and lost us the location of the Elixir. That took me months to even get the location for. Now, Flamel is dead. It should be a top priority; we need to get them back.” Rowle snarled. The scar on his face contorted with his angry face movements. “Do we know anything of it now?”

“The Aurors have it and seem to be having a hard time deciphering it,” Yaxley said. “It’s not practical to try and take it from them. We can allow them to solve the code and steal it from them then.” 

“Are you mad? We need it back now,” Rowle said, “We can’t let them decipher it, Yaxley. What if they get to it first?” 

“Yes, but none of us were able to decipher it in the first place. So, why not let the Aurors solve it...if they even can?” Snarled Parkinson. “Are you sure you got the right coordinate codes, Rosier?” He poked a massive finger at the thin man.

“Of course I am. Do I look like the kind of man who would not make sure I had what I need before I killed Flamel? It was hard enough getting him to give me the codes. Sorry, I didn’t get them in fucking English but you try and deal with the old man. I was thrilled to finally kill him,” Rosier snapped. “We needed to get the coordinates to Crouch. If anyone could decipher them, it was him.” 

“Am I the only one who is worried about the rest of the wizarding world becoming aware that The Dark Lord still lives? We were supposed to let him return in secret. Now, they have the advantage.” Avery spoke for the first time in the meeting. He slammed his glass full of firewhisky down on the table. It sloshed onto the expensive rug below. 

“We still will have the advantage of Greyback’s community and of the Northern Giants this time.” Yaxley said,  “I have already been reassured of their allegiance to the cause. No one will expect us to have made them allies,” 

“That will not matter if we cannot bring The Dark Lord back,” Avery said. “Rowle is right. We need to get the codes back and get them to Crouch somehow. He can decipher them and one of us can find the Elixir.”

“Even if we do find the Elixir, we still will need to find The Dark Lord, you idiot,” Parkinson said, glaring at Avery. “We will need to free the Lestranges should we wish to find him. Only they know where he could be.” 

“That is quite enough,” Yaxley said, his voice silencing the others. “Pettigrew's failure has indeed been a setback. We will be able to prevail. I will get the letters back from the Aurors somehow within the week. We can then formulate a new plan on how to get them from Crouch.”

There was a knock on the door and Parkinson’s wife stuck her head in. “It is time for dinner. Nearly everyone is here.” She said.

Parkinson narrowed his eyes. “Who has failed to show their face?”

“The Malfoys,” His wife replied before closing the door again.

“Of course, Lucius would not show up.” Snarled Yaxley. “I knew he was never loyal to our cause. He has not mentioned a single thing about his mark growing stronger.” 

“He may have had something to do for work,” Rosier said. “He has clearly gotten in a great deal of trouble after you have been stealing his letters and making him look like a fool, Yaxley.”

“He deserved that. Besides, his absence has confirmed that he is also a blood traitor, which would explain why his mark does not burn.” Yaxley said. “And he has forced his wife into his cowardice as well, how dare he?” 

“Here it comes,” Scoffed Rowel, “Another one of Yaxley’s anti-Lucius rants.” 

“You’ve always fancied Lucius’s wife, huh Yaxley?” Snarked Parkinson, “Not that I blame you. She is quite easy on the eyes.” 

“Narcissa Black was supposed to mine. That bastard stole her from me...along with what should have been my job,” Yaxley snarled, cracking his knuckles. “Of course I never liked Lucius. He rose to power too quickly. It wasn’t like him. I should have been the Dark Lord’s right hand. Not _him_ ,”

“And the Dark Lord’s right hand hasn’t mentioned anything about his mark.” Said Goyle, “I agree with Yaxley. Lucius has betrayed us,” 

“And his wife?” Rosier barked. 

“She is the Godmother of Harry Potter,” Avery pointed out. “If you all honestly thought that her claim of being persuasive was true, you all are idiots. I’ve seen the ways she and Lucius look at that boy. They have been lying to all of us; they will not give us the boy when the time comes. Don’t you see? They are not here because they are blood traitors and are going to protect that boy and keep him away from us at all costs.” 

There was a nasty silence. 

“Someone needs to do something about them then,” Parkinson said. “If they will not hand us Potter, they are the enemies. I will be more than glad to take care of them,”

“Now, now.” Yaxley scoffed, “There is no need to jump straight to murder. I will surely run into Lucius soon. I will ask him what his excuse for not being with us all tonight is. He could have owled us like a proper gentleman, after all.” 

“He didn’t bother. The Malfoys are blood traitors, mark my words,” Parkinson said. “We should make them suffer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please keep leaving reviews and kudos. It really keeps me going. Thank you!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, I needed something to do over break and started to write this. Let me know if you like it or hate it and why. I am always open to constructive criticism and ideas :)


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